'It'll be harder for drug companies to say I don't know what I'm doing'

Valerie Beral, an expert in women's health, believes her Royal Society fellowship is an endorsement of her work.

Valerie Beral, professor of epidemiology at Oxford University and one of the 44 new fellows of the Royal Society, said the honour would help stop criticisms of her research made by pharmaceutical companies. She said: "It makes it harder for them to say I don't understand what I'm doing."

Professor Beral is an expert in women's health. Her research, which has shown that hormone replacement therapy can increase incidence of breast cancer, has been well received by regulatory bodies, but has come under fire from drug companies. She welcomes the fellowship as an endorsement of the credibility of her work.

Professor Beral has carried out epidemiological research for 30 years and has been head of the Cancer Research UK cancer epidemiology unit in Oxford since 1989.