Image courtesy Department of Chemistry Photography
Professor David Klenerman of the Department of Chemistry has been awarded the Royal Society GSK Research Professorship.
He is among six scientists awarded the 2016 Royal Society Research Professorship. These prestigious posts provide long term support for “internationally recognised scientists of exceptional accomplishments.”
John Skehel, Biological secretary and a Vice President of the Royal Society said: “The scientists awarded the 2016 Research Professorships are amongst the world’s most distinguished.”
Professor Klenerman is known for co-inventing the Illumina high-speed DNA sequencing method with Professor Shankar Balasubramanian, also in the department. His research is now focused on developing and applying new biophysical methods, based on laser fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning probe microscopy. He has developed techniques to image individual protein complexes on the surface of living cells to follow the processes occurring as the adaptive immune response is triggered. These methods are now being used to study neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Another University of Cambridge scientist, Professor Andrea Brand, who is the Herchel Smith Professor of Molecular Biology in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, was awarded the Royal Society Darwin Fellowship.