McLean was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 2014. His nomination reads:
Irwin McLean is distinguished his major contributions to our understanding of the genetic basis of heritableskin diseases. Of particular note is his discovery that null mutations in filaggrin, which are carried by 10% of the population, not only cause the dry, flaky skin conditionichthyosis vulgaris but also strongly predispose individuals to the most common skin disorder, atopiceczema, and the associated phenotypes of atopic asthma, allergy and hay fever. This research has revolutionised the field by showing that a skin barrier defect, rather than an immunological defect, is the primary cause of eczema and focused attention on improving barrier function to treat these common diseases. He was also the first to map and identify the causative genes for a number of monogenic cell fragility disorders affecting the epidermis, its appendages and other epithelial tissues, including pachyonychia congenita, muscular dystrophy with epidermolysis bullosa simplex and Meesmann corneal dystrophy. His work has established that a primary function of the intermediate filament cytoskeleton, its attachment structures and modifying proteins is to provide epithelial tissues with mechanical strength.[1]
^Palmer, C. N.; Irvine, A. D.; Terron-Kwiatkowski, A; Zhao, Y; Liao, H; Lee, S. P.; Goudie, D. R.; Sandilands, A; Campbell, L. E.; Smith, F. J.; O'Regan, G. M.; Watson, R. M.; Cecil, J. E.; Bale, S. J.; Compton, J. G.; Digiovanna, J. J.; Fleckman, P; Lewis-Jones, S; Arseculeratne, G; Sergeant, A; Munro, C. S.; El Houate, B; McElreavey, K; Halkjaer, L. B.; Bisgaard, H; Mukhopadhyay, S; McLean, W. H. (2006). "Common loss-of-function variants of the epidermal barrier protein filaggrin are a major predisposing factor for atopic dermatitis". Nature Genetics. 38 (4): 441–446. doi:10.1038/ng1767. PMID16550169. S2CID2500278.
^Smith, F. J.; Irvine, A. D.; Terron-Kwiatkowski, A; Sandilands, A; Campbell, L. E.; Zhao, Y; Liao, H; Evans, A. T.; Goudie, D. R.; Lewis-Jones, S; Arseculeratne, G; Munro, C. S.; Sergeant, A; O'Regan, G; Bale, S. J.; Compton, J. G.; Digiovanna, J. J.; Presland, R. B.; Fleckman, P; McLean, W. H. (2006). "Loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding filaggrin cause ichthyosis vulgaris". Nature Genetics. 38 (3): 337–342. doi:10.1038/ng1743. PMID16444271. S2CID21948747.
^Nomura, T; Sandilands, A; Akiyama, M; Liao, H; Evans, A. T.; Sakai, K; Ota, M; Sugiura, H; Yamamoto, K; Sato, H; Palmer, C. N.; Smith, F. J.; McLean, W. H.; Shimizu, H (2007). "Unique mutations in the filaggrin gene in Japanese patients with ichthyosis vulgaris and atopic dermatitis". The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 119 (2): 434–440. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2006.12.646. PMID17291859.