Pioneering academics to be honoured by Queen UCL scientists hope to deliver the world's first stem-cell treatment for blindness by using embryonic cells to repair damaged retinas. They are targeting age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness among the elderly in the developed world, which affects around a quarter of people aged over 60 in Britain. Other winners include Southampton University, which is honoured for advanced sports engineering, including the designing and testing of America's Cup yachts and Formula 1 cars. Queen's University Belfast has also been rewarded for pioneering cancer services that have led to dramatically improving survival rates in Northern Ireland. Other winners include the universities of Birmingham, East Anglia, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Reading, Southampton, Surrey and York.