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211 Jim Giles,London Leading neuroscientist Colin Blakemore has been chosen to run Britain’s main biomedical research agency, the Medical Research Council (MRC). Blakemore’s assertive personality, which colleagues say he brings to all aspects of his work, is likely to be tested to the full at the London-based council. The organization that he inherits from George Radda, the molecular cardiologist who has been the MRC’s chief executive since 1996, has been facing a barrage of criticism lately from the community it funds (see Nature 422, 461; 2003). Currently head of the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, Blakemore is well respected for his research on the development of the visual system. He also has a strong track record of promoting science with the general public. Blakemore, who takes over from Radda in October, says that he will investigate whether the MRC grant applications process could be made more open and its paperwork streamlined. He also says he would like to see whether the council can help to increase the credit that researchers get for taking part in science communication. “Young scientists need to get more professional reward for these activities,” he says. Blakemore is often in the media spotlight. During the mid-1990s he was singled out by animal-rights campaigners and received numerous death threats. A letter bomb was sent to his house, although the device did not explode. The experiences prompted Blakemore to become an unofficial spokesman for the use of animals in research — a role he says he will continue to play after he takes up his new position. Colleagues of Blakemore expect him to tackle this and other issues with his usual, and sometimes fiery, dynamism. “He can get quite heated,” notes Andrew Lumsden, a developmental neurobiologist at King’s College London. But Lumsden, like other researchers contacted by Nature, says that such passion will work in the council’s favour. ■ Medical council pins hopes on public advocate of science

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