David Klenerman

Sir David Klenerman is a British biophysical chemist who serves as Professor of Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge's Department of Chemistry and is a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge. He is internationally recognized for pioneering contributions to next-generation DNA sequencing technology that revolutionized genomics.

Education:

• BA (1982) - Christ's College, University of Cambridge
• PhD (1986) - Churchill College, University of Cambridge, supervised by Ian William Murison Smith
• Postdoctoral research - Stanford University as Fulbright Scholar with Richard Zare

Research Focus: Professor Klenerman's work bridges fundamental chemistry with transformative biomedical applications. His group pioneered fluorescence-based next-generation DNA sequencing (Solexa/Illumina technology), enabling rapid whole-genome sequencing. He advanced nanopipette-based scanning ion-conductance microscopy for high-resolution live-cell imaging and molecular delivery. Currently, his team applies 3D super-resolution microscopy to study protein misfolding mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases.

Commercial Impact: Co-founded Solexa (1998), later acquired by Illumina for $600 million, and Ionscope (2004) for scanning ion-conductance microscope commercialization.

Major Awards:

• 2024: Canada Gairdner International Award & Novo Nordisk Prize
• 2022: Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
• 2020: Millennium Technology Prize
• 2019: Knighted for services to science
• 2018: Royal Medal from Royal Society
• 2012: Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)
• 2015: Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci)
• 2007: RSC Interdisciplinary Award

Laboratory & Teams: Leads the Klenerman Research Group at Cambridge, focusing on single-molecule biophysics and super-resolution imaging technologies.