A SOUTHEND doctor has been awarded an honorary professorship.

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta, a consultant rheumatologist at Southend Hospital, received the honour at the Department of Health and Human Sciences at the University of Essex in Colchester. It is Southend Hospital's first professorship at a UK university and Dr Dasgupta hopes it will help him achieve his dream of setting up a medical school in Essex. He said: "It is an exciting challenge and may be a stepping stone to developing closer ties between the hospital and the university."

Dr Dasgupta, who is also director of research and audit, is an international expert in giant cell arteritis - an inflammatory condition affecting blood vessels - and polymyalgia rheumatica, which is a hip and shoulder disorder. Dr Dasgupta believes the honour is due to his enthusiasm for research.