Chris Barnes

Prof Barnes was awarded a PhD in high-energy physics in 2006 and since then his career has spanned multiple fields including particle physics, statistical genetics, statistics, systems biology and synthetic biology. He joined the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at UCL in 2012. He has over 160 research papers published in peer reviewed journals and over 23100 citations. His current research covers mutational processes and genome rearrangement, microbiome engineering and the engineering biology-artificial intelligence interface. His team uses a combination of mathematical modelling, machine learning and experimental approaches.

Prof Barnes has also significantly developed training for the next generation of life scientists in mathematical modelling and computational skills. He led development of SysMIC, which is a UK nationwide e-learning platform for systems biology. Over 1500 postgraduate and postdoctoral scientists have engaged and the course makes up an integral part of many doctorial training programmes across the UK. He is currently UCL Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in BioDesign Engineering, which placed 62 students across Imperial, UCL, Manchester. He was also the Department’s first fellowship coordinator, helping to set up the formal tenure-track like process for young researchers. Prof Barnes has also been involved in a number of schemes that aim to reduce educational inequality and is a data science consultant at Bactobio, a start-up that cultures soil microbiota to find novel antimicrobials targeting human and plant pathogens.