A tribute to Dr Neil Mackenzie
 It is with great sadness and shock that the BRS has learned of the tragic and untimely death of Neil in a climbing accident in British Columbia, Canada. Neil was killed with two friends in a fall on Mount Joffre on 11th January.
Neil was an enthusiastic contributor to the life of the BRS and an excellent, promising young scientist. He graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2005 and undertook his PhD at the University of Dundee/Roslin Institute before working for several years as a post-doc at the Roslin Institute with Vicky MacRae. His main interests involved mechanisms of vascular calcification, particularly the role of phosphate homeostasis and pyrophosphate/phosphate regulation in bone and the vasculature. He had recently taken up a position as a post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Blood Research in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
His growing renown as a researcher was reflected in awards from the BRS including a young investigator award and a Barbara Mawer travelling fellowship. In 2014, he was recognised by the ASBMR with a John Haddad Young Investigator Award for his work on the role of Cathepsin K in vascular matrix mineralization. His infectious enthusiasm for research led him to serve in the past as a Young Investigator representative on the BRS Committee. As Neil had said himself, he was keen to give something back to the society and to help the BRS increase its value to our younger members.
Neil had a passion for life and especially mountaineering which, in part, took him out to Vancouver. His love for being in the mountains was a strong driver in his life. He was a friend and colleague to many and he will be remembered very fondly and will be greatly missed.
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Professor Cyrus Cooper awarded the OBE in the 2015 New Year's honours list.
Professor Cyrus Cooper, Director of the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, at the University of Oxford has been awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to Medical Research. Prof Cooper, a BRS member and Past President, commented "I’m surprised and delighted to be recognised with this very special honour. I am fortunate to have been involved in working on the causes and prevention of musculoskeletal disorders, a major cause of ill health and disability." More information is available here. |
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Proposed change to the Constitution of the Bone Research Society
Article 22 of the constitution states “The accounts of the Society shall be audited annually, and a report made by the Treasurer to the Annual General Meeting”. In recent years the BRS accounts have been subjected to an Independent Examination (IE) by Saffery Champness Chartered Accountants (www.saffery.com) prior to submission of our annual return to the Charities Commission. An IE is a legally acceptable form of external scrutiny of end of year accounts and is an appropriate alternative to a statutory audit for smaller charities. During this year’s examination, it came to light that our constitution actually refers to “audit” rather than “IE”. Once this discrepancy was discovered, Saffery Champness were unable to sign off the IE for 2013. To fulfil our obligations for external scrutiny, BRS would have to undergo a full audit that is unnecessary and expensive or alternatively modify the constitution to allow IE. The Officers of BRS are therefore recommending that we change Article 22 of the constitution to the following wording:
“The accounts of the Society shall be independently examined or audited annually subject to the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 , and a report made by the Treasurer to the Annual General Meeting”.
This change has been proposed by Allie Gartland and seconded by Jim Gallagher.
If anyone would like any clarification on the proposed change please contact Jim Gallagher. BRS members will be sent a link to the electronic ballot in due course.
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