Rothamsted Research Board Members

Professor Ian Crute, Institute Director Rothamsted Research

Ian studied at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he obtained a BSc in Botany in 1970. He was awarded a Science Research Council research studentship and obtained his PhD in 1973. From 1973 to 1987 he was employed as a research scientist at the AFRC Institute of Horticultural Research, Wellesbourne (formerly the National Vegetable Research Station); where he was promoted to Principal Scientific Officer in 1981.

In 1986 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship at the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA and then returned to the UK in 1987 as Head of the Crop and Environment Protection Department at Horticulture Research International, East Malling. He returned to HRI, Wellesbourne in October 1993, as Head of the Plant Pathology and Weed Science Department and was appointed Site Director at Wellesbourne in September 1995, managing an extensive site and research programme, with an annual budget of some £12M and about 350 staff. Ian's own scientific interests are in the genetics of plant-pathogen interactions and in 1992 he was awarded the RASE research medal.

He is an Honorary Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Birmingham and was awarded a Visiting Chair in Plant Pathology within the Biological Sciences Faculty of the University of Oxford in 1997. Ian is currently Chairman of the Council of the Sainsbury Laboratory and a member of the Governing Council of the John Innes Centre. Other appointments include membership of the Science and Horticultural Advice Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society and of two of the Office of Science and Technology's Foresight Panels; he is a member of the Crop Production Sub-Group and chairs the Fruit and Vegetable Sub-Group.

Professor Chris Rawlings, Head, Biomathematics and Biostatistics

An experienced bioinformatics scientist and manager having extensive experience in the development, deployment and application of in-silico methods for analysis of genetics and genomics data for identification and characterization of genes and proteins relevant to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries with:

• Knowledge of pharmaceutical (SmithKline Beecham) and biotechnology company (Oxagen Ltd) R&D and business priorities.
• Extensive experience of managing projects and departments that create value through the development and use of bioinformatics and other scientific and general IT tools.
• Wide practical experience and technical knowledge about information technology (hardware and software) and its application in the life sciences.
• A broad background in evaluating and reviewing software products and research proposals through membership of company and UK research council scientific strategy committees.
• An international reputation as a bioinformatics scientist with an extensive and sustained publication record in peer reviewed journals.
• A wide knowledge of the UK and international bioinformatics research and development community with an extensive network of personal contacts.
• A laboratory research background in DNA repair mechanisms and computer science research background in application of artificial intelligence programming languages and knowledge representation systems to biological (bioinformatics) problems.