The Wellcome Trust, an independent global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health through science, research and engagement with society, has announced that globally recognised developmental biologist Jim Smith is joining Wellcome as the new Director of Science. Dr Smith succeeds Dr Kevin Moses who stepped down earlier in 2016.
Dr Smith is currently Deputy CEO and Chief of Strategy at the Medical Research Council, and Director of Research at the Francis Crick Institute (opens in a new tab). He will step down from both roles before taking up his position at Wellcome by the end of the year, but will continue to run his lab at the Francis Crick Institute.
He will lead the Science Division and science funding portfolio on Wellcome's Executive Board.
A globally recognised developmental biologist, Dr Smith’s research interests include inductive interactions in vertebrate development and applying the principles of developmental biology to stem cell differentiation.
He has a distinguished career in scientific research, as a Fellow of the Royal Society (1993), a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1998), and a member of the Academia Europaea (2000). He has also been awarded the EMBO Medal (1993) and the Waddington Medal (2013).
Dr Smith’s previous leadership roles include Director of the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute and Director of the MRC National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), where he oversaw its transition to the Francis Crick Institute.
He is a leading advocate of equality, diversity and inclusion in science, technology and engineering.
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