Winner. Scientist of the Year 2019. Natural Sciences

John Diffley

Academic title, degree: Ph.D.
Fields of science: Molecular biology
Research interest: DNA replication mechanisms
Institution: The Francis Crick Institute
Position: Associate Research Director
Country: United Kingdom

John Diffley was born 1958 in New York (USA) and studied in his home town (New York University) where he received his BA and PhD. Following a period as a post-doctoral fellow at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New-York, he left for the UK in 1990. He continued his research at the Clare Hall Laboratories, where he became the director in 2006. In the same year he was made Deputy Director of the London Research Institute, and in 2015 became Associate Research Director at the Francis Crick Institute.

Professor Diffley was elected as a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 1998. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Academia Europaea, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the European Academy of Cancer Sciences. In 2003 he won the American Paul Marks prize for cancer research. Prof. Diffley was awarded the 2016 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine for his contributions to understanding how DNA replication, a process essential to life, initiates.

Pioneering research on the eukaryotic DNA replication cycles including initiation, regulation and responses to DNA damage.

When a cell in an organism divides to yield two identical daughter cells, its DNA is first duplicated, or “replicated”, as two identical copies. John Diffley has become one of the worldwide leaders in the study of the mechanisms governing this process of duplication. His work has allowed us to understand how DNA replication is initiated, and how it is subsequently regulated throughout the cell cycle and in response to DNA damage. Since any mistakes in this process can lead to genetic mutations causing tumours, this research could be significant in the fight against cancer.