Honour for John Innes Centre Director
June 2009
Professor Chris Lamb FRS has been awarded a CBE for services to plant sciences in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
“Plant science is central to delivering global food security, adapting crops to climate change and maintaining human health in an ageing population,” says Prof Lamb, Director of the John Innes Centre.
“I feel this honour reflects on the excellence of research carried out by my colleagues and the impact it will have on addressing such grand challenges.”
Prof Lamb’s own research is on disease resistance in plants. He uncovered how the cell wall protects plants from pathogen attack and identified genes that are switched on in response to infection.
After completing a PhD at Cambridge University, he became a research fellow at the University of Oxford. In 1982 he moved to the Salk Institute in California, rising to Director of the Plant Biology Laboratory, before becoming the Director of the John Innes Centre in 1999. Since then, he has led a continued focus on excellence in science at the Institute, and helped to promote Norwich as a major centre for scientific research, especially in the areas of food, environment and health. A key part of this has been training young scientists.
The John Innes Centre is playing a central role in equipping the next generation of scientists with the skills to meet the challenges faced by society.
Professor Lamb was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2008. He lives in Shimpling, Norfolk.
Professor David Baulcombe, formerly of the Sainsbury Laboratory, has been made a knight bachelor for services to plant sciences.
