blog

The John Maddox Prize for standing up for science is an annual award given to individuals who have personally defended sound science for the benefit of the public. Named after the late Sir John Maddox, a former editor of Nature and fiery Welsh bête-noir of pseudo-science, the prize is jointly awarded by Nature, the Kohn Foundation and the charitable trust Sense about Science, and is aimed particularly at those who have promoted evidence-based science in the face of hostility.

We are delighted that this year’s awardee is David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and Section Head in Psychiatry for F1000Prime: a man who exemplifies the qualities looked for in the prize.

Most will know Professor Nutt from the events of 2009, when he was fired from the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for publically disagreeing with the then-Government’s policies, leading to an outcry in the scientific community (which we covered at the time on this blog). His departure led to the formation and his chairing of a new Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, as well as a greater debate on the independence of scientific advice and evidence-based policy making.

On receiving the award, Professor Nutt said, “Science is arguably the defining characteristic of humanity. It therefore is imperative that scientists play their full role in all aspects of human life. Being awarded this prize gives me the confidence to continue to do what’s right, and hopefully will inspire others to follow suit”.

We couldn’t agree more. For further information, as well as a short film profile on the prize and deliberation process, please take a look at the announcement on the Sense about Science website.

Our congratulations again!