Ben G. Davis

Professor of Chemistry, in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford

  • Davy Medal (2020)
  • Prix Paul Ehrlich of the Société de Chimie Thérapeutique (2017)
  • Breslow Award (2017)[1]
  • Whistler Award (2016)
  • Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award for Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry (2012)
  • Royal Society of Chemistry Bio-organic Chemistry Award (2012)
  • Norman Heatley Award (2009)
  • Carbohydrate Research Award for Creativity (2009)
  • Isbell Award (2008)
  • Wain Medal for Chemical Biology (2008)
  • Corday-Morgan Medal (2005)
  • Mullard Award (2005)
  • Philip Leverhulme Prize (2002)
  • Royal Society of Chemistry Carbohydrate Award (2001)
  • Meldola Medal and Prize (1999)[2]
Scientific careerFields
  • Chemistry
  • Chemical Biology
  • Glycoproteins[3][4]
Institutions
  • University of Toronto
  • Durham University
  • University of Oxford
  • Pembroke College, Oxford
  • Rosalind Franklin Institute
ThesisSynthesis of inhibitors of sugar processing enzymes (1996)Doctoral advisorGeorge Fleet[2]Other academic advisorsJ. Bryan Jones[5] Websiteusers.ox.ac.uk/~dplb0149

Benjamin Guy Davis FRS FMedSci[9][10] (born 8 August 1970)[6] is Professor of Chemical biology[11][12] in the Department of Pharmacology and a member of the Faculty (by courtesy) in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford[13][14][15][16] and a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford.[17] He holds the role of Science Director for Next Generation Chemistry[18] (2019-2024) and Deputy (2020-) and Interim Director (November 2023-) at the Rosalind Franklin Institute.

Education

Davis was privately educated at Nottingham High School[6] followed by the University of Oxford where he was awarded Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry (with Chemical Pharmacology) in 1993[citation needed] and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1996 supervised by George Fleet [Wikidata][19].[20] He was a student of Keble College, Oxford.[2]

Research and career

After his PhD, Davis spent two years as a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of J. Bryan Jones [Wikidata][21] at the University of Toronto, exploring protein chemistry and biocatalysis.[9] There he developed, with Jones and Genencor International Inc., early examples of targeted protein degradation systems.[22] In 1998 he returned to the United Kingdom to take up a lectureship at Durham University. In the autumn of 2001 he moved to the Dyson Perrins Laboratory in the Department of Chemistry and received a fellowship at Pembroke College, Oxford.[citation needed][23] He was promoted to Professor of Chemistry in 2005.[9] In 2021 in a new partnership[11][12] between the Rosalind Franklin Institiute and the University of Oxford he took up a joint position between Medical Sciences in the Department of Pharmacology and the role of Science Director for Next Generation Chemistry; this post lasts until 2024. From November 2023 he is the Interim Director of the Institute.

His group's research centres on the chemical understanding and exploitation of biomolecular function (Synthetic Biology, Chemical Biology and Chemical Medicine), with an emphasis on carbohydrates and proteins. In particular, the group's interests encompass synthesis and methodology; target biomolecule synthesis; inhibitor/probe/substrate design; biocatalysis; enzyme and biomolecule mechanism; biosynthetic pathway determination; protein engineering; drug delivery; molecular biology; structural biology; cell biology; glycobiology; molecular imaging and in vivo biology.[9]

Research in the Davis laboratory has been funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Medical Research Council, UCB-Celltech, AstraZeneca, the European Union, GlaxoSmithKline, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society.[2] He has supervised numerous postdoctoral researchers and doctoral students to completion.[24]

Awards and honours

Davis was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2015.[9] His certificate of election reads:

Professor Davis is noted for his chemical interrogation and manipulation of biological systems, particularly those that hinge on carbohydrates and proteins. He has developed selective and benign bond forming strategies that have been applied to biology, allowing the construction of synthetic biomolecules and bioconjugates; the creation of synthetic cells and viruses; and in vivo chemistry. These have enabled associated mechanistic details of protein and sugar biology to be elucidated and exploited for biotechnological applications.[10]

In 2017, he was elected a Member of the Academia Europea[25] and in 2019, he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.[26]

He was also a recipient of the Mullard Award from the Royal Society in 2005, the Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2002 and the Meldola Medal and Prize in 1999 from the Royal Society of Chemistry.[27] He won the Whistler Award[28] of the International Carbohydrate Organization in 2016. He also received the Davy Medal ("awarded for outstanding contributions in the field of chemistry"[29]) from the Royal Society in 2020.[29]

References

  1. ^ "Ronald Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry: Benjamin G. Davis". C&EN Global Enterprise. 95: 38–50. 2017. doi:10.1021/cen-09501-awards011.
  2. ^ a b c d "The Davis Group". University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013.
  3. ^ Davis, B. G. (2002). "Synthesis of glycoproteins". Chemical Reviews. 102 (2): 579–602. doi:10.1021/cr0004310. PMID 11841255. Closed access icon
  4. ^ Gamblin, David P.; Scanlan, Eoin M.; Davis, Benjamin G. (2009). "Glycoprotein Synthesis: An Update". Chemical Reviews. 109 (1): 131–163. doi:10.1021/cr078291i. ISSN 0009-2665. PMID 19093879. Closed access icon
  5. ^ Ambrosi, M; Cameron, N. R.; Davis, B. G. (2005). "Lectins: Tools for the molecular understanding of the glycocode". Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. 3 (9): 1593–608. doi:10.1039/b414350g. PMID 15858635. Closed access icon
  6. ^ a b c d e Anon (2016). "Davis, Prof. Benjamin Guy". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.283852. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ^ Anon (2009). "Author profile: Benjamin G. Davis". Angewandte Chemie. 48 (22): 3900. doi:10.1002/anie.200901068. Closed access icon
  8. ^ Davis, B. (2010). "Future Visions of Chemistry: Ben Davis". ChemistryViews. doi:10.1002/chemv.201000012.
  9. ^ a b c d e Anon (2015). "Professor Benjamin Davis FRS". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:

    "All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." --"Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

  10. ^ a b "Professor Benjamin Davis FRS". London: The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Rosalind Franklin Institute and Pharmacology announce strategic partnership in Next Generation Chemistry — Department of Pharmacology". www.pharm.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Franklin and Oxford Pharmacology join forces". Harwell Campus. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  13. ^ Ben G. Davis publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  14. ^ Anon (2007). "Interview with Ben Davis: Sugar Solutions". Royal Society of Chemistry. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008.
  15. ^ Garnier, Philippe. "The Davis Group - Home". Users.ox.ac.uk.
  16. ^ Ben G. Davis publications from Europe PubMed Central
  17. ^ "Professor Ben Davis - Pembroke College". Pmb.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 14 April 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  18. ^ "Science Director, Next Generation Chemistry - Professor Ben Davis". Rosalind Franklin Institute. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  19. ^ "George Fleet". www.chem.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  20. ^ Davis, Benjamin Guy (1996). Synthesis of inhibitors of sugar processing enzymes. jisc.ac.uk (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 1064614676. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.711593.
  21. ^ "Profile of J. Bryan Jones". sites.chem.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  22. ^ WO2000064485A2, Davis, Benjamin G.; Jones, John Bryan & Bott, Richard R. et al., "Specifically targeted catalytic antagonists and uses thereof", issued 2000-11-02 
  23. ^ Barlow, John (2003). "Welcoming New Fellows, Ben Davis". Pembroke College Record. 2000–2003: 19 – via Pembroke College, Oxford.
  24. ^ "The Davis Group - Former Members". users.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  25. ^ "Academy of Europe: Davis Benjamin". www.ae-info.org. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  26. ^ "New Fellows: 50 top biomedical and health scientists join the Academy". Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  27. ^ Garnier, Philippe. "The Davis Group - Ben G. Davis". Users.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  28. ^ "Roy L Whistler International Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry – International Carbohydrate Organisation". Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  29. ^ a b "Davy Medal | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 24 November 2022.

 This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

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