Her research has made pivotal contributions to understanding energy conversion in complex redox enzymes: how they capture the energy released by a redox reaction to power proton translocation across a membrane, or catalyse the interconversion of chemical bond energy and electrical potential. She is known particularly for her work on mammalian respiratory complex I (NADH: ubiquinone oxidoreductase), an energy-transducing, mitochondrial redox enzyme of fundamental and medical importance, and for solving its structure by electron cryomicroscopy. She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2018.

Judy said: "I am delighted to have been selected to receive the ​Keilin Memorial Lecture Award. I feel this award recognizes the importance of taking on challenging long-term research projects at the boundaries of basic and biomedical science, and have been fortunate to have been supported by The Medical Research Council throughout - as well as by a team of talented and enthusiastic students and postdocs."

The Keilin Memorial Lecture was first awarded in 1964 to commemorate the late David Keilin. The lecturer and subject of the lecture are selected, by the Awards Committee, from a field related to the interests of Keilin in bioenergetics, electron transfer and mitochondrial biology. The winner of the award is given the opportunity to present a lecture at a Society event. The award is presented every other year, however, the Society has the power to modify this programme.