Council
Comprises the Chair, the Chief Executive and 16 other members (presently there is one vacancy also) at least half of whom are appointed for their qualification in science and engineering. Users of research, in Government and industry, are also represented.
Members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
Members
Meeting dates and minutes
Members
Professor Sir Tom Blundell FRS - Chair [ Chair's biography]
Professor Sir David Baulcombe FRS - Academic
David Baulcombe was a student in Botany at Leeds and Edinburgh Universities. After periods in Montreal, the University of Georgia and the Cambridge Plant Breeding Institute he spent 20 years at the Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich. He joined Cambridge University in 2007 as Royal Society Research Professor and now as Regius Professor of Botany.
David Baulcombe is a molecular biologist and his research interest in plants focuses on how genes can be silenced. He has recently moved into the field of epigenetics – the science of how nurture can influence nature. This research links diverse topics including disease resistance in plants and understanding of hybrid crops. David is a poor field botanist.
Professor John Coggins OBE FRSE FSB - Academic
Professor John Coggins OBE, FRSE, FSB is Emeritus Professor of Molecular Enzymology and Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the School of Biology at the University of Glasgow. He was formerly Vice Principal for the Faculties of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Clinical Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at Glasgow University. His major research interests are the structure and mechanism of biosynthetic enzymes, metabolic engineering and the rational design and development of novel anti-microbial and anti-parasitic agents. He is Chairman of Portland Press Ltd. and is a member of the Council of the Society of Biology and the Executive of the Biochemical Society. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Trustees of the Glasgow Science Centre and Director of Operations for Glasgow City of Science. He has a special interest in the knowledge transfer agenda and in science education and public engagement.
Professor Anne Dell CBE FRS - Academic
Anne heads the Glycobiology Training, Research and Infrastructure Centre (GlycoTRIC) at Imperial College London. Her research is devoted to the development of ultra-high sensitivity mass spectrometric strategies and their application to structural problems in the field of glycobiology. Anne gained her PhD in chemistry from the University of Cambridge before joining Imperial College where she rose through the ranks to a Personal Chair in 1991. She was Head of the Biochemistry Department from 1999-2001 and held a BBSRC Professorial Fellowship from 2002-2007. She was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 2002, to the European Academy of Sciences in 2004 and to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2008. Anne received a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2009 in recognition of services to sciences. She has received honorary doctorates from the University of Western Australia and the University of Waterloo.
Professor Russell Foster FRS - Academic
Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience; Head of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology; Director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute; and a Fellow of Brasenose College, University of Oxford. Russell’s research interests are focused upon the fundamental neuroscience of vertebrate sleep and circadian rhythms (24h body clocks), and the impact on human health when these systems are disrupted. For his discoveries in this area of neuroscience Russell was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2008. Russell is a strong proponent of the public awareness of science, and has authored three popular science books. He is currently the Chair of the Cheltenham Science Festival.
Russell studied Zoology at Bristol University, remaining in Bristol for his PhD and first Post-Doc. He moved to the University of Virginia in 1988, returning to the UK and Imperial College in 1995. In 2006 he moved his research team to Oxford.
Mr Jim Godfrey OBE - Industry/User
Jim Godfrey is an arable and pig farmer from Lincolnshire. Jim is a non executive director of the Rural Payments Agency and Lincolnshire Rural Support Network, chairman of the Technology Strategy Board Sustainable agriculture and Food Innovation Platform, a member of: The Commercial Farmers Group, Centre for Excellence in UK Farming, Nuffield Farming Scholarship Selection Panel, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Board Training Programme. Jim is a former chairman of; The Potato Marketing Board, Scottish Crop Research Institute, Sentry Farming Group plc, the International Potato Centre and the Alliance of the 15 Research Centres of the CGIAR.
Dr Mike Goosey - Industry/User
Mike is a bioenergy and industrial biotechnology consultant. He is a board member of BioSyntha, on the advisory board of Algenuity and an honorary Professor in Sustainable Bioenergy at the University of Nottingham. Mike previously worked for Shell with extensive R&D experience in the chemicals, refinery and downstream activities where he latterly served as Global Manager for Shell's R&D Biofuels Programme in Shell’s Alternative Energies business. He had close relationships with many biotechnology start-ups such as Iogen, Codexis, and Cellana.
Mike has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham and was a Parkinson's Disease Research Fellow, before joining Dow Chemical Company where he worked for 6 years in the Agrochemical Business. He then joined Shell Research Ltd at Sittingbourne Research Centre where he was responsible for the biochemical and molecular biology team involved in the molecular design of agrochemicals. Mike was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2007.
Mr David Gregory - Industry/User
David has a portfolio of non executive roles in food and science related businesses and organisations. These include chairman of Assured Food Standards whose Red Tractor kitemark underpins the quality and safety of the UK’s farm and food production, non executive director of Boparan Holdings (2 Sisters Food Group), a multinational chilled food business and vice-chairman of the British Nutrition foundation.
David is also a visiting professor at the University of Reading Centre for Food Security and a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology.
In addition to David’s role on Council of BBSRC, David is a trustee of the Institute of Food Research which receives BBSRC strategic funding.
Before developing this portfolio, David spent 26 years working for Marks & Spencer from where he retired as Technical Director in 2009. During his time at M&S he was instrumental in a number of nutrition, innovation and sustainability initiatives and was one of the co-authors of Plan A – the widely recognised industry leading eco plan.
Professor Sarah Gurr - Academic
Professor Sarah Gurr was the first woman President of the British Society for Plant Pathology and is Professor of Molecular Plant Pathology at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford. Having authored or co-written 98 research papers and articles, her work reflects a desire to understand the basic mechanisms of pathogenicity in fungi with the strategic goal of controlling fungal disease and applied research in the testing of antifungals. This research has been driven by an interest in the grand challenge of food security. Professor Gurr is committed to public engagement, regularly giving Public Awareness and Understanding of Science (PAUS) lectures that have reached thousands of non-specialist audiences including both school children and adults.
Professor Douglas Kell - BBSRC Chief Executive [ Chief Executive's biography]
Dr David Lawrence - Industry/User
David graduated in chemistry from Oxford University with an MA and DPhil in chemical pharmacology.
He joined ICI in 1974, where he worked as a chemist and biochemist and, unusually, across the span of chemistry, seeds and biological control. Held a variety of people and project management roles, culminating in his position as Head of International R&D Projects in Zeneca Agrochemicals, prior to the Syngenta merger in 2000.
David became head of R&D Projects on the formation of Syngenta, then a member of the Syngenta Executive Committee and Head of R&D in Syngenta (2002-2009), with responsibility across chemical, biotechnology and plant breeding.
On retirement from Syngenta in April 2009, after 35 years in the industry, he was elected as a non-executive director of Syngenta AG, and chair of the Syngenta Science & Technology Advisory Board. He was also a Member of the Lead Expert Group on Food & Farming, which produced a comprehensive Foresight Report in early 2011, and continues to be a member of the UK Industrial Biotechnology Leadership Forum.
He is a Board member for Rothamsted Research, Plastid AS (Norway) and has recently been elected as the Chair of the Biosciences Knowledge Transfer Network for which he chairs the sector group on industrial biotechnology. In addition, he consults for a number of biotechnology companies in the Europe and the USA.
Professor Keith Lindsey - Academic
Keith is Professor of Plant Molecular Biology and Director of Research at Durham University’s School of Biological & Biomedical Sciences. He is also co-founder and a Scientific Director of Creative Gene Technology Ltd., a University spin-out company. His research interests are in understanding molecular mechanisms of plant development. A graduate of Oxford and Edinburgh Universities, he carried out post-doctoral research at Edinburgh's Department of Botany and at the Department of Biochemistry at Rothamsted Experimental Station. He was appointed to an academic post at the University of Leicester in 1989, before moving to a Chair in Durham in 1996, and was Head of the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Durham from 1997–2000. He is President and Chair of Council of the Society for Experimental Biology, Chair of the New Phytologist Trust, a member of the UK Government Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), and a Fellow of the Society of Biology.
Professor Chris Pollock CBE - Independant
Chris Pollock is a plant physiologist and was Director of the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research in Aberystwyth from 1993-2007. More recently, Chris has been involved nationally in agriculture and land use. He chaired the Scientific Steering Committee for the farm-scale evaluations of GM crops, the Defra Research Priorities Group for Sustainable Farming and Food and the Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Science panel for the 2008 RAE He has recently completed a one-year post as Chief Scientific Advisor to the First Minister in Wales. He is currently an Honorary Professor at Aberystwyth University and chair of the Advisory Committee on Releases into the Environment. Chris is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies and of the Society of Biology, a past winner of the British Grassland Society Award, an Honorary Doctor of the University of Birmingham and was made a CBE in 2002 for services to the environment.
Dr Andy Richards - Industry/User
Andy is a BBSRC Council member as well as a member of the BBSRC Audit Board, which he chaired until April 2012. A serial entrepreneur and business angel, he is currently Chairman of Altacor, Novacta, Abcodia and Ixico and is a Director of Arecor, Summit Corp plc, PsychologyOn-line, Cancer Research Technology (commercial arm of CR-UK) and Babraham Bioscience Technology.
Andy is a Cambridge graduate with a PhD in Chemistry. He spent his early career with ICI (now AstraZeneca) and with PA Technology and later became a founder of Chiroscience. He is a Trustee of the British Science Association, a founder member of the Cambridge Angels, and an advisor to both Vectura plc, and several Venture Capital Funds.
Professor David Richardson - Academic
David Richardson is Pro Vice Chancellor for Research, Enterprise and Engagement and Professor of Microbial Biochemistry at the University of East Anglia (UEA) on the Norwich Research Park. He is also a member BBSRC Council. His research group is active in the area of bacterial bioenergetics, particularly with regard to the respiratory reactions of the nitrogen and iron cycles. This encompasses the study of soil bacteria such as Paracoccus denitrificans, food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella Typhimurium and bacteria involved in mineral metal reduction such as Shewanella oneidensis. His work shed important light on the mechanism of greenhouse gase production by bacteria and the molecular basis ofthe function of bacterial nanowires.
Dr John Stageman OBE - Industry/User
After obtaining his PhD in Colloid Chemistry in Bristol, John first became engaged in biotechnology research after joining ICI in 1978. At Billingham he worked on industrial biotechnological processes including Pruteen, Biopol and led the team that designed the first large scale manufacturing process for Quorn. Moving into the pharmaceutical business that became AstraZeneca, John held a number of senior international management roles stretching from target discovery through to drug development. He led the group responsible for developing AstraZeneca’s competitive biopharmaceutical strategy, resulting in the acquisition of Cambridge Antibody Technology and of MedImmune. After a period as General Manager of MedImmune Cambridge, John returned to AstraZeneca as Vice President of UK Science Affairs before retiring in 2011. John is currently Chairman of Bionow Ltd, Chairman of the HealthTech and Medicines Knowledge Transfer Network for the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), an Honorary Professor in Life Sciences at the University of Manchester and has recently been appointed Chairman of the Major Awards Committee of the Biomedical Catalyst.
Dr Will West - Industry/User
Dr Will West is Chief Executive of CellCentric Ltd., a biotechnology company focused on epigenetics. He has been responsible for building the company from a world class scientific base through to multiple commercial deals. He gained his BSc (Hons) in Microbiology in 1989 from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, going to complete a PhD in Virology/Immunology in 1992, sponsored by Unilever (UniPath). Will carried out post-doctoral research focused on antibodies and MHC proteins at the National Institute of Biology Standards and Control, going on to spend 7 years at Procter & Gamble in their Healthcare division, ultimately responsible for clinical development programmes in North America, Europe, Africa and China.
Will has spent the last 10 years in the biotechnology sector in executive and consultancy roles across different product classes, all with a strong emphasis on technology transfer and early stage development. Will has a Masters degree in Clinical Research (University of Wales, Cardiff) and an MBA from London Business School. Recent prior appointments include Chair of the Emerging Companies Network for the BioIndustry Association and committee member of the Bioscience Sector Skills Group, SEMTA.
Professor Tim Wheeler - Government User
Tim Wheeler is currently Professor of Crop Science at the University of Reading and Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser for the UK Department for International Development. For more than 20 years he has published extensively on how climate change could impact on the sustainability of agriculture and food. Tim has provided advice on the sustainability of food and farming to agri-businesses and food multi-nationals, often up to Board level. He has extensive experience of working with policy-makers in the UK and internationally, providing information and advice to Ministers and acting as Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords in 2010. In 2005 he gave the prestigious Royal Society Public Lecture on ‘Growing crops in a changing climate’. Tim joined BBSRC Council in April 2012.
Meeting dates and minutes
Minutes and agendas for the past 3 years can be found below. If you would like to view minutes and/or agendas older than 3 years, please contact us using the details below.
2013
12 March - Evening dinner
13 March - Council meeting
11 June - All-day Strategic workshop
12 June - Council meeting
24 September - Evening dinner
25 September - Council meeting
3 December - Evening dinner
4 December - Council meeting
2012
6-7 March
3-4 July
2 October
11 December
2011
8 February
5-6 April
7 July
5 October
6 December
2010
9 February
13-14 April
6-7 July
11-12 October
14 December
Contact
Corporate Affairs
cau@bbsrc.ac.uk