Council and Officers

Biographies of members of the Society of Biology Council and Officers can be found below.

President

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell DBE FRS FMedSci FSB FRCP(Hon)

Honorary Secretary

Professor David Coates FSB

Honorary Treasurer

Dr William Marshall FRCP FRCPath FRCPEdin FRSC FSB

Council

From the College of Individual Members

Professor Peter Downes OBE FRSE FSB
Dr Liz Lakin FSB
Mr Tim Brigstocke MBE, M.Phil, FIAgrM, FRAgS, FSB
Dr Kim Hardie FSB

From the College of Organisational Members

Professor Julia Buckingham DSc FBPharmacolS FSB
Dr Pat Goodwin FSB
Professor Keith Gull CBE FRS FMedSci FSB
Professor John Coggins OBE, FRSE, FSB

Appointed by Council

Dr Aileen Allsop FSB
Professor Martin Humphries FMedSci FSB 
Professor Rosemary Hails MBE CBiol FSB
Dr Paul Brooker CBiol FSB

Biographies

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell DBE FRS FMedSci FSB FRCP(Hon)

Nancy trained in London as a physiologist and her current research aims to understand the mechanisms of brain disorders such as stroke and haemorrhage and to develop new treatment; it spans molecular and cell biology, animal and clinical studies. She is President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester and Professor of Physiology.  

She is currently a non-executive director of AstraZeneca and chair of their board Science Committee. Until recently she was a Council member and Vice-President of the Royal Society and chair of the Royal Society education committee, and was a council member of BBSRC. She has previously served on the councils of MRC, the Academy of Medical Sciences, CRUK and NESTA, she has been chair of the Wellcome Trust Public engagement strategy committee, RDS and president of the British Neuroscience Association. She has a strong interest and involvement in public engagement and education and in government policy. She has made many media appearances and press interviews and has served on several government advisory boards. She is a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society and an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the Society of Biology. In 2005 she was honoured with the award of a DBE and in 2010 was appointed a Deputy Lord Leiutenant for Greater Manchester. 

Professor David Coates FSB

David is the Dean of the School of Life Sciences Learning and Teaching, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee. He is currently also chair of HUBS (Heads of University Biological Sciences). With a degree in genetics from Leeds, he studied the molecular genetics of heritable traits in Linum spp. (John Innes Institute). After work on the transcriptional regulation of oncogenes in Crown Gall (Purdue University, Indiana), he moved to Oxford as a Demonstrator in Genetics, and began a long period of work in the risk assessment of genetically modified crop plants (virus resistance), in collaboration with the Institute of Virology (as was) and the Plant Health Group of the Central Science Laboratory, which continued after moving back to Leeds in 1989. These plant virology studies were complemented with collaborative work on the metalloproteases of the two early key metazoan genomes, the ‘worm’ Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. These studies lead to a year working in Paris with Pr Corvol at the College de France, looking at the evolutionary history of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme, and involvement in the annotation of the D.melanogaster genome at Celera Genomics.

Becoming Head of the School of Biology in Leeds changed his focus from personal research to academic leadership. Four years later he moved to Bradford as Dean, and then moved to Dundee in 2009, where he is engaged in rewriting the basic tenets of a Life Sciences degree. David also works with Diabetes UK, the major national charity for those who live and work with diabetes, and is currently chair of the Governance Committee.

Dr William Marshall FRCP FRCPath FRCPEdin FRSC FSB

William is Clinical Director of Pathology and Consultant Clinical Biochemist at The London Clinic, a leading London independent hospital. He studied biochemistry at Oxford University, obtained a PhD from University College London and then read medicine at King’s College London. Most of his professional career was spent at King’s College Hospital/King’s College, where he was a consultant clinical biochemist (with a particular interest in nutrition and metabolic medicine) and Reader in Clinical Biochemistry. In addition to research papers and reviews, he is author of the standard UK undergraduate and postgraduate textbooks in clinical biochemistry and has contributed to and edited several books for the Association for Clinical Biochemistry, of which he was elected an Honorary Member. He is the immediate past chairman of the Medical Writers Group of the Society of Authors. He has held various offices at the Royal College of Pathologists, including Assistant Registrar, Director of Publications and Honorary Treasurer (for five years) and was awarded the College’s medal for distinguished service.   Before being elected Hon Treasurer of the Society of Biology, he was Hon Secretary of the Institute of Biology for two years and was closely involved with the formation of the new organisation.

Professor Peter Downes OBE FRSE FSB

Peter Downes is currently Principal and Vice Chancellor at the University of Dundee, where he has played a key role in developing life sciences at the University of Dundee to its current status as a global player making a significant impact on the Scottish economy and on the understanding and treatment of major diseases including diabetes and cancer.  His work leading the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy (DSTT) with Sir Philip Cohen, lead to one of the largest ever research collaborations between the pharmaceutical industry and a British university, which has been highlighted by the British Government as a model of best practice in technology transfer. In 2005 the DSTT was awarded the highly coveted Queen’s Anniversary Prize.

He is one of the most cited bio-scientists in the UK and Peter has made important contributions to Biochemistry over many years. He identified the mechanism of action of the drug Lithium used to treat manic depression and has played a key role developing our understanding of intercellular communication through hormone and growth factors.  In particular, he discovered a biochemical pathway that is the most common source of mutations leading to human cancers.   For these discoveries he was awarded the Colworth Medal of the British Biochemical Society in 1987 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1991 and the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2010. He was also elected as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Biochemical Society 2001-04.  He was honoured by the Queen with an OBE in 2004.

Dr Liz Lakin FSB

Liz Lakin is Lecturer in the Biological Sciences at the University of Dundee, with specific responsibility for Schools' Support and associated outreach work both nationally and internationally. In her current role she teaches on the environmental and whole organism components of the undergraduate programmes. Having worked for many years in Initial Teacher Education her teaching experience spans all levels of science education from primary and secondary to post-compulsory at both further and higher education levels. She is also involved with developing and delivering CPD for national and international teachers of science/biology. Liz has worked extensively over the years as an external examiner at a range of Higher Education Institutions on both primary and secondary Initial Teacher Education Courses. Her research interests focus on teaching and learning in the Biological and Environmental Sciences and areas of pedagogic expertise include developing and enhancing independent learning; she has several professional and academic publications within this area to her name. Liz is a Chartered Biologist and Fellow of the Society of Biology. She is a committee member of the Society’s Scottish Branch and chairs the Accreditation working group.  Liz currently remains acting Chair of the Lakeland area Association for Science Education.

Mr Tim Brigstocke MBE, M.Phil, FIAgrM, FRAgS, FSB

Tim Brigstocke is Policy Director and immediate past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers.  He runs Tim Brigstocke Associates, a livestock consultancy which specialises in advising government, farmers and the agricultural supply industry.  Tim was awarded an MBE for services to the dairy industry in the January 2008 Queen's New Year Honours list.

Currently Tim also works with a range of organisations including the Institute of Agricultural Management, RUMA Alliance, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, LANTRA, the Institute of Biology, DEFRA and the Food Standards Agency.  He is Executive Director, Cattle Health Certification Standards UK Limited, a non executive director of Cogent Breeding Ltd and Secretary/Technical Adviser to the Houses of Parliament All Party Parliamentary Group on Dairy Farming.  He was Chief Executive of the Holstein Friesian Society of Great Britain and Ireland, latterly Holstein UK & Ireland, and remains Executive Secretary to the National Cattle Association (Dairy).

Professor Julia Buckingham DSc FBPharmacolS FSB

Julia obtained a BSc in Zoology and a PhD in Pharmacology. Aside from a short spell in the pharmaceutical industry, she has worked in academia throughout her career. She is currently Professor of Pharmacology and Pro-Rector for Education and Academic Affairs at Imperial College London, with overall responsibility for the College's educational strategy and quality, and also Head of the College's Centre for Integrative Mammalian Physiology and Pharmacology. Her previous roles include Head of the Division of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Dean for non-clinical Medicine at Imperial; Head of the Department of Pharmacology and Pre-clinical Dean, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School.

Julia has considerable experience of learned societies; she has held the posts of President of the British Pharmacological Society, Treasurer and General Secretary of the Society for Endocrinology, Chairman of BioScientifica (the Society for Endocrinology's trading company) Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neuroendocrinology.; she is currently Chairman Society for Endocrinology, a Director of BioScientifica and a member of the Biosciences Federation CouncilJulia has served on various panels at the Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, MRC and Swedish Medical Research Council, an RAE panel in 2001 and the editorial boards of various journals. She is a member of the BBSRC Integrative and Systems Biology Strategy Panel, Chairman of Sir Henry Wellcome Awards Interview Committee (Wellcome Trust) and is a member of the NC3R’s Studentship Panel. 

Dr Pat Goodwin FSB

Pat obtained a BSc (Physiology and Biochemistry) and PhD (Microbial Biochemistry) from the University of Southampton. Most of her research career has been devoted to studying the biochemistry and genetics of methylotrophic bacteria, but she also did postdoctoral research in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Surrey and at the University of Sussex, where she worked on DNA repair. She has 12 years’ experience of teaching part-time students studying for the Membership of the Institute of Biology. In 1990 she joined the Wellcome Trust as manager of the Molecular and Cell Panel. During her time at the Trust she has gained a broad experience of biomedical research.  She has managed a wide range of funding committees and schemes, including the Infection and Immunity Panel, the Functional Genomics Development Panel and capacity building initiatives in Toxicology, Biodiversity, Medical Microbiology, Veterinary Medicine and E-health. From 2003-2010 she was responsible for the operation and strategic direction of two funding streams, Immunology and Infectious Disease, and Populations and Public Health. She has experience of working in partnership with a variety of UK and international funding organisations.  She retired from full time employment in January 2011 and is currently a Consultant and a Special Advisor to the Wellcome Trust.

Pat has been an active member of the Society for General Microbiology, serving as Convener of the Education Group (1990-1995), an elected member of Council (1994-1995) and Scientific Meetings Officer (1995-2000). She is a Fellow of the Society of Biology and currently serves on the Society’s Council and on the Board of UK Biobank.  

Professor Keith Gull CBE FRS FMedSci FSB

Keith started his research career in London and Kent with discoveries on the mode of action of antifungal antibiotics and the cytoskeleton of eukaryotic microbes, particularly trypanosomes. He spent the 1990s involved with the development of the School of Biological Sciences in the University of Manchester and moved to Oxford in 2002 where he holds a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellowship at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology.  His research focuses on African trypanosomes, particularly the structural and molecular mechanisms of cell differentiations linked to pathogenesis and antigenic variation. He has particular interests in the structure and molecular cytology of the flagellum and its roles in the host-parasite and parasite-vector interaction.

Keith has served on numerous research committees of funding agencies and charities including Wellcome Trust, MRC, BBSRC Council, Cancer Research UK Trustee, Committee on Safety of Medicines, Leverhulme Trust and Company of Biologists. He is a member of many learned societies and was awarded the principal prize from the Society for General Microbiology, the Marjory Stephenson Prize. He was Chairman of the Biochemical Society (1998-2001). He has been elected to Fellowships of the Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences and was awarded a CBE in 2004 for services to microbiology. He has had a long interest in graduate education and careers of young scientists and produced the 2005 report “Freedom to Succeed” on biomedical research fellowship careers in the UK.

Professor John Coggins OBE, FRSE, FSB

Professor John Coggins is Emeritus Professor of Molecular Enzymology and Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the School of Biology, University of Glasgow. He was formerly Vice Principal for the Faculties of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Clinical Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.  His major research interests are the structure and mechanism of biosynthetic enzymes and the rational design and development of novel anti-microbial and anti-parasitic agents. 

He is a member of the BBSRC Council, the Research Information Network Advisory Board, Chairman of Portland Press, Vice-Chairman of the Trustees of the Glasgow Science Centre and a member of the External Advisory Committee of the Glasgow Centre for Population Health. He is a former Vice President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Treasurer of the Biosciences Federation and served as a member of the Scottish Science Advisory Committee and as Chairman of the UK Heads of Biological Science.  He has a special interest in the knowledge transfer agenda and in science education and science communication

Dr Aileen Allsop FSB

Aileen recently retired as Vice President for Science Policy, R&D, AstraZeneca. She studied Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics in London, and joined Beecham Pharmaceuticals in 1981, immediately after completing her doctorate. Since then she has worked for over 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry, initially in drug discovery, latterly in drug development and most recently in Science Policy, where she led the team on behalf of AZ R&D. Her technical background is infectious disease, in which field she has led programmes in research biology, disease strategy and development projects. In her policy role she led a global team focused on integration between private sector research and skills with the wider scientific community, the UK being a major part of that agenda. Aileen's experience on the interface between government, the private sector, medical charities and the universities is wide ranging from bioethics, such as the use of animals or stem cells in research, through to working to improve the UK Science Base.

Professor Martin Humphries FMedSci FSB  

Martin is Professor of Biochemistry, and Vice-President and Dean in the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester. He carried out postdoctoral research at the Howard University Cancer Center, Washington D.C. and at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. In 1988 he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship to return to Manchester. In 1995 he progressed to a Principal Research Fellowship and was a co-founder of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research, which he now directs. Martin’s research aims to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for metazoan life, specifically the role of cell adhesion in integrating signalling with tissue environment. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a member of Academia Europaea. He has served on many government funding body and learned society panels and committees, and is an editor of several journals (including the Journal of Cell Biology). Martin is currently Chairman of the Biochemical Society and the Wellcome Trust Basic Science Interview Committee, and a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences Council.

Professor Rosemary Hails MBE CBiol FSB

Rosie was educated at Oxford University, receiving her BA Honours in Zoology. She then moved to Imperial College, where she studied for an MSc in Applied Entomology and then completed her PhD in insect population ecology. In later years she also completed five mathematical and statistical degree modules with the Open University. After a couple of postdocs at Imperial, principally focused on the risk assessment of genetically modified plants, she moved back to Oxford in 1992 to take up a post at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (then the Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology) to study the ecology and risk assessment of genetically modified viruses. She is currently a Section Head at CEH Oxford, a Supernumerary fellow at St Anne’s College Oxford, a senior research associate at the Zoology Department, Oxford University and a visiting Professor at Oxford Brookes University. In June 2000 she was awarded an MBE for services to Environmental Research. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, a member for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Environment Working group, Chair of the Natural Capital Initiative and an associate editor for the Journal of Applied Ecology.

Dr Paul Brooker CBiol FSB

Dr Paul Brooker did his first degree at the University of East Anglia where he studied Genetics. It was at the UEA that he joined the old IOB as a student member. He then moved on to University College London where, under the supervision of Professor Sam Berry (a former editor of Biologist) he completed a PhD in Genetics, working on cytogenetic variation in British house mice. Following postgraduate work he moved into industry, starting a currently unbroken 28 year stint at Huntingdon Life Sciences, Europe’s largest pre-clinical contract research organisation. Beginning his work in the Genetic Toxicology group, Paul moved on to other scientific and business positions within the company, including that of Director of Toxicology, before taking up his current role of Director, UK Operations, where he carries responsibility for all of the scientific operations of HLS across its two UK sites, involving close to 1000 scientific and technical staff and disciplines ranging from toxicology, pharmacology and pathology to environmental sciences and various chemistry and biochemistry groups.  He has published papers on a variety of subjects, including evolutionary genetics, genetic toxicology, In vitro alternatives to animal studies and global regulatory requirements. He sits on the pre-clinical drug safety advisory group of the ABPI (Association of the British Pharmaceutical industry), was a member of the ABPI skills group which produced reports in 2005 and 2009 and is a member of the UK Biosciences Coalition, which has been responding on behalf of UK industry, academia and research charities on the animal welfare directive as it passed through the European Council and Parliament and which will now result in a revised A(SP)A in the UK.

Dr Kim Hardie FSB