Crick Scientific Advisory Board announced

Today we announce the appointment of the Crick's Scientific Advisory Board. This group of 14 international scientific leaders, including three Nobel prize winners, have extensive experience running research institutes and universities in the UK, continental Europe and the USA. The Scientific Advisory Board will be instrumental in developing and implementing the Crick's scientific strategy and operations.

The creation of a Scientific Advisory Board supports the Crick's aim to undertake biomedical research of the highest quality and reinforces the value of multidisciplinarity and collaboration. Each member brings an in-depth knowledge of their research specialism and a deep understanding of the wider scientific community. Collectively, the members bring experience of discovery and translational research in a range of scientific environments.

Paul Nurse, Director of the Crick, said: "I am very pleased that this group of outstanding scientists have agreed to offer support, working together as part of the Scientific Advisory Board. Their breadth of knowledge will enable well-rounded discussion to inform our current scientific strategy and future opportunities."

Scientific Advisory Board members

For a short biography of each member, please see the Crick website.

Adrian Bird (Chair): the Buchanan Chair of Genetics at the University of Edinburgh since 1990 and a member of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology.

Hans Clevers: Director of Research at the Princess Máxima Centre for Paediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Michael A J Ferguson: Regius Professor of Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee.

Susan Gasser: Director of the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.

Joseph L Goldstein: Chairman of the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1985.

Demis Hassabis: co-founder and CEO of DeepMind, a neuroscience-inspired artificial intelligence (AI) company.

Edith Heard: scientist at the Institut Curie, Paris and Professor of Epigenetics and Cellular Memory at the Collège de France.

Tyler Jacks: Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and a Daniel K. Ludwig Scholar.

Steve Jackson: University of Cambridge and Cancer Research UK Professor of Biology, and Head of Cancer Research UK Laboratories at the Gurdon Institute.

May-Britt Moser: Founding Director of the Centre for Neural Computation and Founding Co-Director of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Professor of Neuroscience. Joint winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Stephen O'Rahilly: Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine at the University of Cambridge and Honorary Consultant Physician at Addenbrooke's Hospital.

Erin O'Shea: President of Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Paul C Mangelsdorf Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. 

Fiona Powrie: Director of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, a basic and translational inflammatory sciences centre at the University of Oxford.

Harold Varmus: the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine at the Meyer Cancer Center of Weill Cornell Medicine. Co-recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize for studies of the genetic basis of cancer.

The role of the Scientific Advisory Board is to advise the Crick's Director on all aspects of the development and implementation of the institute's scientific strategy. This includes:

  • the development of the Crick and the wider Crick
  • scientific interactions within the UK and internationally
  • horizon scanning and implications of global scientific innovations for the institute's strategy
  • recruitment strategy and procedure
  • development of the clinical and multi-disciplinary agenda
  • response to quinquennial reviews
  • student and postdoctoral training
  • mentoring and development of junior researchers
  • development of science technology platforms and other institute facilities

The Scientific Advisory Board will meet annually with the Crick Director and the members of the Crick's Research Directorate. There will also be opportunities for it to engage with the Crick Board and with staff across the institute. The first meeting will be in November 2017.

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