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.












