Dr Richard Dyer, former Director of the Babraham Institute, awarded OBE

2nd January 2007

The Babraham Institute is pleased to learn that Richard Dyer, the Institute’s former Director, has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List, for services to biology.

Richard Dyer joined the Babraham Institute in 1974 as a neuroendocrinologist, becoming Head of Department in 1985. His distinct scientific contributions were on understanding how specialized nerve cells in the brain regulate hormone production and thereby control the female reproductive cycle. In 1986 he was awarded the Annual Medal of the UK Society for Endocrinology and 1987 the Medal of the Polish Physiological Society. In 1994 he was appointed Director and led the Institute through a period of great change. In 2005, just before his retirement as Director, the Institute was highly praised for the excellence of its research and scientific training in an independent assessment for the BBSRC, the Institute’s main sponsoring Research Council. Richard Dyer’s vision of an integrated campus, with researchers from both the academic and commercial ends of the biotech spectrum working in close proximity, has been realised. The “Babraham Research Campus” with its Bioincubator is now the UK’s most active location for start-up and emerging biotech companies; with another building due to open in late 2007 which already has multiple expressions of interest

Dr Dyer is now Chief Executive of the Biosciences Federation, an umbrella organization representing the UK’s biological expertise and providing independent opinion to inform public policy and to promote the biosciences. He is also Vice President of the European Science Foundation and continues as a member of the Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd. Board.

Dr John Bicknell, former Acting Director1, said “I am delighted that Richard’s contribution to the Babraham Institute and to the conception of the Babraham Research Campus has been recognized in this way. Richard was the prime mover in bringing the Institute to its current, highly respected status as a vibrant international research centre for discovery biology in the 21st century with its promise and potential for applications in biomedicine. This award to Richard is a richly deserved tribute from which his colleagues at the Institute will take great pleasure”

Notes

1. Following Richard Dyer’s retirement as Director of Babraham Institute in December 2005, Dr John Bicknell took over as Acting Director. Professor Michael Wakelam became Director on 1st January 2007.

2. Photographs, including a picture of interesting painted portrait, are available on request.

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About the Babraham Institute

The Babraham Institute is a charitable organisation devoted to biomedical research and is an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The Institute’s research is focused on understanding the biological events that underlie the normal functions of cells and on how their failure or abnormality may lead to disease. As such, Institute scientists are striving to find cures for conditions where there is currently no treatment or where the existing treatment is not fully effective or causes serious side effects. The latest technologies are being used to study the basis of conditions such as neurodegenerative disorders, birth defects, cancer and diseases of the immune and cardiovascular systems. With a strategic focus on ‘healthy ageing’, novel approaches for tackling chronic diseases and public health concerns like obesity are being discovered. The Institute’s innovative research is commercialised through Babraham Bioscience Technologies (BBT) Ltd, which also manages Babraham’s vibrant Bioincubator on the Babraham Research Campus, six miles south-east of Cambridge.  Website: www.babraham.co.uk