Gil McVean facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gil McVean FRS FMedSci
McVean in 2016
Born	Gilean Alistair Tristram McVean February 1973 (age 52)
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Oxford (BA) University of Cambridge (PhD)
Awards	Francis Crick Medal & Lecture (2010) Weldon Memorial Prize (2012) Fellow of the Royal Society (2016) Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2016)
Scientific career
Institutions	University of Oxford University of Edinburgh
Thesis	Adaptation and conflict : the differences between the sexes in mammalian genome evolution (1998)
Doctoral advisor	Laurence Hurst
Other academic advisors	Brian Charlesworth Deborah Charlesworth

Gilean Alistair Tristram McVean (born in February 1973) is a British scientist. He is a professor at the University of Oxford. He studies genetics, which is the science of how traits are passed down through families.

Professor McVean is also a co-founder of a company called Genomics plc. He helped lead a big science project called the 1000 Genomes Project. This project looked at the genetic information of many different people.

Becoming a Scientist

Gilean McVean speaking at the 2010 GEM meeting at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton

Gil McVean went to the University of Oxford to study Biological Sciences. He earned his first degree there between 1991 and 1994.

Later, he went to the University of Cambridge. In 1998, he earned his PhD in Genetics. A PhD is a very high university degree that shows someone is an expert in their field.

What He Does

After getting his PhD, Professor McVean continued his research at the University of Edinburgh. This extra research is called "postdoctoral research."

Since 2000, he has worked at the University of Oxford. He became a professor of statistical genetics in 2006.

Studying Genes and Populations

Professor McVean's work focuses on population genetics. This field looks at how genes change and move through groups of people or animals over time. He also studies evolutionary biology, which is about how living things change over many generations.

He has been involved in important projects like the International HapMap Project and the 1000 Genomes Project. These projects help scientists understand the human genome. The human genome is like a complete instruction book for building a human body.

Professor McVean also helped create a way to study how genetic information gets mixed up when it's passed from parents to children. This process is called "recombination."

Genomics plc and Big Data

In 2014, Professor McVean co-founded Genomics plc. This company uses advanced computer methods to analyze genetic information. It helps understand how genes affect health and disease.

He also helped start the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford in 2017. This institute uses very large sets of information to solve problems in health and medicine.

Awards and Recognition

Professor McVean has received many awards for his important scientific work:

• In 2010, he received the Francis Crick Medal. He also gave a special talk called "Our genomes, our history."
• In 2012, he was given the Weldon Memorial Prize.
• In 2016, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists in the United Kingdom.
• Also in 2016, he became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).