Biochemist e-volution: Society news

	8 July 2008
	8 July 2008

Douglas Kell new Chief Executive of the BBSRC

The Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills has announced the appointment of Professor Douglas Kell as the next Chief Executive of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

Prof Kell is a member of the Biochemical Society and a leading figure in the field of systems biology, the multidisciplinary approach to tackling complex biological problems using theory, computer modelling and experimentation. He was an early pioneer in the development of systems to generate and handle the huge amounts of data that followed the emergence of the ‘omic’ sciences – such as genomics, proteomics and metabolomics. His work has enabled researchers to harness the power of these approaches by giving them the tools to interpret and analyze the data generated by modern biology.

Prof Kell was born in London in 1953 and studied at the University of Oxford before conducted research at Aberystwyth University. He joined UMIST in 2002, which merged with the Victoria University of Manchester to form The University of Manchester in 2004. Prof Kell is currently Professor of Bioanalytical Science at the University of Manchester and Director of the BBSRC-funded Manchester Centre for Integrative Systems Biology. He will maintain his scientific links by continuing to work one day a week at the Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre.

Dr Peter Ringrose, Chairman of BBSRC, said: “I am very pleased to welcome the appointment of Professor Doug Kell as the next Chief Executive and Deputy Chair of BBSRC. Prof Kell has a long association with BBSRC and BBSRC science. He has not only been a pioneer in his own field of work but has served the research community for a number of years through membership of multiple BBSRC bodies. As chair of a review of BBSRC’s research in bioenergy, he demonstrated a willingness to take on the challenges facing both bioscience and society as a whole.

“UK bioscience is amongst the strongest in the world. Our challenge in the future is to continue to make an impact internationally while maximizing the social and economic impact of our research. Prof Kell is ideally placed to lead BBSRC and the bioscience community with a world-class track record in multidisciplinary research and a strong history of working to commercialize his science.”

Prof Kell will take up his post on 1 October 2008 and the appointment is for four years. Prof Kell succeeds Prof Julia Goodfellow, who left BBSRC in September 2007 to take up the role of Vice-Chancellor at the University of Kent. Steve Visscher has been serving as Interim Chief Executive and will continue to do so until October.

Dr Ringrose said: “I would like to take this opportunity to record my thanks to Steve Visscher for his excellent leadership over the last year. He has led BBSRC through a period of great change. He has helped us secure a good Spending Review allocation and to put in place structures at our institutes and office that will mean BBSRC can continue to deliver the highest quality of research.”