Professor Gordon Dougan F Med Sci FRS – Professor Dougan, who is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at University of Cambridge, is an internationally recognised expert in vaccinology, global health and infections. He was Head of Pathogens at The Wellcome Sanger Institute for over a decade and previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry. He studies the molecular basis of infection with a strong emphasis on pathogenic mechanisms/immunity, genomics, disease tracking and antibiotic resistance. He has a particular interest in using genomics to study the evolution of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, the cause of typhoid.
Before moving to the Wellcome Sanger Institute, he was the founding Director of the Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection at Imperial College London and a Professor of Biochemistry. He is a member of EMBO, the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He has received awards nationally and internationally for his work, receiving the prestigious Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal in 2020 for his extraordinary contributions in the field of vaccinology including saving lives through the development and use of vaccines.
Gordon received his B Sc and Ph.D. from the University of Sussex and conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington (Seattle) in the laboratory of Stanley Falkow. He worked in industry developing novel vaccines at an internationally renowned multi-national company and is a founder of VHSquared and Microbiotica. He is currently a strategic advisor at Wellcome and sits or has sat on the Board of several companies.