Dr Piet Borst has been awarded an honorary CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by Her Majesty The Queen for his outstanding contribution to UK and global science, especially in the field of cancer research. His exceptional record of scientific achievements in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology is also acknowledged worldwide.
At 72, he is still working as a full-time staff member of The Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital in Amsterdam, heading research groups studying multidrug resistance in cancer cells as well as a new DNA base (J) that his group found in trypanosomes.
The British Ambassador, Mr Lyn Parker, will be presenting the award at his Residence in The Hague on Wednesday 18 April 2007.
Dr Piet Borst was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in London in 1986 and he continues to contribute actively as one of the very few Dutch members. He was a member of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund's (ICRF's) Scientific Advisory Board from 1994-2000. He proved a particularly wise advisor to the former Director-General of Cancer Research UK, Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse, at a very complex time when the IRF merged into Cancer Research UK.
British Honours are awarded on merit for exceptional achievement or service to British interests. Founded in 1917, chiefly to recognise service by civilians in the First World War, the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire now forms the basis of the awards most widely conferred on civilians for public services or other distinctions in civilian life.