Christofer "Chris" Toumazou, CEng (, born 5 July 1961) is a British Cypriot electronic engineer. He is perhaps best known for inventing a fast and portable means of

genome sequencing Whole genome sequencing (WGS), also known as full genome sequencing or just genome sequencing, is the process of determining the entirety of the DNA sequence of an organism's genome at a single time. This entails sequencing all of an organism's ...

, following his 13-year-old son's diagnosis with end stage

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

through a rare genetic mutation. In 2013 he became London's first

Regius Professor A Regius Professor is a university Professor (highest academic rank), professor who has, or originally had, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Republic ...

of Engineering conferred to

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

. For his inventions in semiconductor-based

genetic testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

he won the

Gabor Medal The Gabor Medal is Awards, lectures and medals of the Royal Society, one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "acknowledged distinction of interdisciplinary work between the life sciences with other disciplines". The medal was creat ...

of the Royal Society (2013) and European Inventor Award (2014). He is the first British winner of the prize in this contest since 2008.

Biography

Early life

Born to

Greek-Cypriot Greek Cypriots (, ) are the ethnic Greeks, Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest Ethnolinguistic group, ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming al ...

parents in Cheltenham, Toumazou trained to become an electrician, inspired by an English uncle who was an electrical engineer.

Academic career

Toumazou began undergraduate studies in 1980. He obtained both his undergraduate degree and doctorate at the then Oxford Polytechnic (now

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...

). He moved to

in 1986 as a Research Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering becoming the youngest professor at Imperial in 1994 at the age of 33. He was appointed Head of the Circuits and Systems Group in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and then Head of the Department of Bioengineering in 2001. In 2003 he raised a total of £22m to create the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at

, a multidisciplinary research institute focusing on personalised medicine and

nanobiotechnology Nanobiotechnology, bionanotechnology, and nanobiology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Given that the subject is one that has only emerged very recently, bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as blank ...

, becoming its first director and chief scientist. His own specialism is in the field of personalised healthcare, providing worn or implantable devices for early diagnosis, and detection of disease.

Commercial career

Toumazou co-founded two companies which use silicon technology for early detection and management of chronic disease: Toumaz Technology Ltd and DNA Electronics Ltd.Interview with Clive Cookson
''Financial Times''

Honours and awards

*2008: elected

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in United K ...

*2008: elected

Fellow of The Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

*2011: awarded the J J Thomson medal from The Institution of Engineering and Technology *2013: elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences *2013: awarded Regius Professorship *2013: awarded

of the Royal Society *2014: winner of the

European Inventor Award The European Inventor Award (formerly European Inventor of the Year Award, renamed in 2010), are presented annually by the European Patent Office, sometimes supported by the respective Presidency of the Council of the European Union and by the Eur ...

of the

European Patent Office The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation

*2014: honorary fellowship,

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

*2014: awarded

Faraday Medal The Faraday Medal is a top international medal awarded by the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) (previously called the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE)). As one of the world's most prestigious awards in engineering, it ...

of the

Institution of Engineering and Technology The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871,Engin ...

(IET) *2014: awarded

IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award The IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award is a Technical Field Award of the IEEE given annually for outstanding contributions to the field of biomedical engineering. It was established in 2010. The award is sponsored by the IEEE Engineering in Med ...

2015 *2016: honoured with Lifetime Achievement accolade at Elektra European Electronics Industry Awards *2020: awarded Joint Entrepreneur of the Year Award, UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) *2022: awarded

UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences The UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences a scientific prize launched in 2012 by UNESCO to reward scientific research in the life sciences leading to improving the quality of human life. Laureates 2012 * ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toumazou, Chris 1961 births Academics of Imperial College London Living people Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Oxford Brookes University People from Cheltenham Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) English people of Greek Cypriot descent