Nicholas Turner

Nick Turner is the Deputy Director of the MIB and Co-Director of SYNBIOCHEM. He is the Director of the Centre for Biocatalysis, Biotransformations and Biocatalytic Manufacture (www.coebio3.org), has leading expertise in biocatalysis for organic synthesis and is expert in protein redesign. He co-founded the spin out companies Ingenza Ltd (2003) and Discovery Biocatalysts (2012), and has strong inter-sectorial programmes in chemicals production with global industries/academic groups.

Professor of Chemical Biology in the School of Chemistry, Nick obtained his DPhil in 1985 with Professor Sir Jack Baldwin and from 1985-1987 was a Royal Society Junior Research Fellow, spending time at Harvard University with Professor George Whitesides. He was appointed lecturer in 1987 at Exeter University and moved to Edinburgh in 1995, initially as a Reader and subsequently Professor in 1998. In October 2004 he joined Manchester University as Professor of Chemical Biology. He is also a co-founder and Scientific Director of Ingenza (www.ingenza.com), a spin-out biocatalysis company based in Edinburgh. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Chemical Communications. Nick has research interests in the area of biocatalysis with particular emphasis on the discovery and development of novel enzyme catalysed reactions for applications in organic synthesis. His group are also interested in the application of directed evolution technologies for the development of biocatalysts with tailored functions.