Christopher Dobson

BA Chemistry 1967
Honorary Fellow
Master, St John’s College, Cambridge
KBE

Professor Sir Christopher Dobson was one of the world’s leading scientists whose ground-breaking research led to major breakthroughs in our understanding, prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

He was a Founder and Director of the Cambridge Centre for Misfolding Diseases, an Interdisciplinary Research Centre for the study of the underlying origins of neurodegenerative conditions, and a Founder of Wren Therapeutics, a biotechnology company whose mission is to find new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions.

He published over 850 research papers and review articles and was elected to Fellowships of the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Academy of Medical Sciences. He was also a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Recognition of the importance of his research has come through numerous awards and prizes. He was a Distinguished or Endowed Lecturer at more than 40 universities across the world as well as giving hundreds of talks and seminars around the globe. He was recognised by Honorary Fellowships of five Oxford and Cambridge colleges and also Trinity College, Dublin.

He was an Oxford undergraduate, graduate and research fellow, Assistant Professor at Harvard and Visiting Scientist at MIT. He returned to Oxford where he was Professor of Chemistry until moving to Cambridge in 2001. He became Master of St John’s College, Cambridge in 2007 and was knighted in 2018.

“I was told that I was not good enough to be offered a place at Oxford or Cambridge. Fortunately Keble disagreed and I spent four very happy years at the College that transformed me as a person, by bringing me into contact with remarkable people who are still my closest friends, and inspiring me through outstanding teaching to pursue an academic career. In short, Keble made me.”