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Dr Josephine Bunch, NPL Fellow and Head of Science, has been awarded a CBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List. Since joining NPL in 2013, Josephine has focused on the development of reliable and reproducible methods for imaging molecules directly in biomedical samples, using mass spectrometry techniques. Gaining a view of the spatial organisation of molecules in cells and tissues can help us understand and detect the chemical changes that occur in disease initiation and progression.
On receiving the award Dr Bunch said: “I am honoured to receive this award and accept it on behalf of the many people who have supported me and collaborated with me through my career. I have benefited enormously from many colleagues at NPL and collaborators from industry and academia, in the UK and beyond. I would like to use this opportunity to thank them all. I would also like to acknowledge and thank my wonderful, loving and supportive family.”
From 2017 to 2025, Josephine was Principal Investigator of a Cancer Research Grand Challenge ‘Rosetta’ programme, leading a multi-disciplinary team from NPL, Imperial College London, The CRUK Scotland Institute (formerly the CRUK Beatson Institute), The Francis Crick Institute, The University of Cambridge, Barts Cancer Institute, The Institute of Cancer Research, and Astra Zeneca. The consortium established a multi-scale spectroscopic imaging pipeline for visualising small and large molecules in tumours and cells.
Together, the consortium demonstrated these new and improved methods for detecting disease and identified novel drug targets for several types of cancer. Their discoveries included identification of biomarkers associated with specific forms of breast cancer, new therapeutic targets in colorectal and pancreatic cancers, mechanistic insights into proliferation of colon cancer and visualisation of sub-forms of glioblastoma brain cancers. The research from Rosetta continues via other funded research projects and measurement services at NPL.
13 Jun 2026