Professor Norma Dawson, School of Law; Professor Margaret Cupples, School of Medicine and Dentistry; and Professor Chris Elliot, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences, were all given a nod in the most recent round of the Queen's Honours.

A former Head of the School of Law, Professor Dawson was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to legal education and the development of the legal profession in Northern Ireland.

Her research interests are intellectual property law, especially the law of trade marks, cultural property law, and legal history. She has taught in areas including Equity and Trusts, Trade Mark Law, Land Law, Charity Law, Landlord and Tenant Law, Irish Legal History, Planning Law and Introduction to Property Law.

A holder of a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship, she was President of the Irish Legal History Society, 2009-2012. Last year she was made an Honorary Bencher of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland.

Professor Margaret Cupples was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to higher education and healthcare.

Although she officially retired as a GP and academic GP this time last year, Professor Cupples has continued to work with Queen's in new roles as Honorary and Emeritus Professor. Her research interests lie in the field of prevention and rehabilitation, with a focus on cardiovascular disease and physical activity. She led an early MRC funded trial which showed the benefits of regular review for patients with coronary heart disease and further work has been cited in international guidelines.

She has contributed to many policy implementation and health service working groups, including the Health Promotion Agency Board, occupational health services for GPs and, most recently, the expansion of GP and community based teaching in the undergraduate medical curriculum. In 2010-11 she was President of the Ulster Medical Society and since 2008 has been the GP lead in the NI Clinical Research Network for Primary Care.

Professor Chris Elliott was also awarded the honour of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the agri-food industry and the health of the food supply chain.

Professor Elliott has a long pedigree as a leading expert on international food supply chains and the implications for food quality, authetitcity and safety. In 2013, he was commissioned by the UK government to lead the independent review of the horsemeat scandal. Chris also developed the world-leading Food Fortress concept which now helps supports the integrity of the NI food industry and promotes the safety and quality of our produce around the world.

He is the founder of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's and has published more than 350 papers in the field of detection and control of chemical contaminants in agri-food commodities as well as leading a range of international projects in developing safer food-supply systems. He has received a range of professional and industry awards including a Winston Churchill Fellowship, and is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Society of Biology.