James Henderson Naismith (born 26 July 1968) is a Scot, Professor of

Structural Biology Structural biology deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every level of organization. Early structural biologists throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries we ...

and since autumn of 2023 the Head of the Mathematical, Physical, and Life Science Division (MPLS) Division at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. He was the inaugural Director of the

Rosalind Franklin Institute The Rosalind Franklin Institute is a physical sciences research centre devoted to developing new technologies for medical research and the life sciences. They are supported by the Government of the United Kingdom located at the Harwell Science an ...

and Director of the Research Complex at Harwell. He previously served as Bishop Wardlaw Professor of

Chemical Biology Chemical biology is a scientific discipline between the fields of chemistry and biology. The discipline involves the application of chemical techniques, analysis, and often small molecules produced through synthetic chemistry, to the study and m ...

at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. He was a member of Council of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(2021-2022). He is also currently the Vice-Chair of Council of the

European X-ray Free Electron Laser The European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (European XFEL) is an X-ray research laser facility commissioned during 2017. The first laser pulses were produced in May 2017 and the facility started user operation in September 2017. The interna ...

and Vice-President (non-clinical) of The Academy of Medical Sciences.

Education

Naismith was named after

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

. He was educated at

Hamilton Grammar School Hamilton Grammar School is a secondary school serving Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Its predecessors can trace their history back to 1452. With the introduction of comprehensive schools and the abolition of selective schools such as Ha ...

. He went on to study at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

where he received a first class Bachelor of Science degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

in 1989. He won a Carnegie Scholarship to work under the supervision of Bill Hunter, John R. Helliwell and David Garner at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

where he received his PhD in 1992 for research into the

chemical structure A chemical structure of a molecule is a spatial arrangement of its atoms and their chemical bonds. Its determination includes a chemist's specifying the molecular geometry and, when feasible and necessary, the electronic structure of the target m ...

Concanavalin A Concanavalin A (ConA) is a lectin (carbohydrate-binding protein) originally extracted from the jack-bean (''Canavalia ensiformis''). It is a member of the legume lectin family. It binds specifically to certain structures found in various sugars, ...

and Zinc aldolase. In 2016 he was awarded a

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

(DSc) by the

Career and research

Following his PhD, Naismith did

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

at the

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient ...

as a NATO Fellow in the laboratory of Stephen Sprang. He was appointed a lecturer at the

in 1995, Reader in 1999 and a Professor in 2001. Naismith's research investigates: His research has been funded by the

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds science, scient ...

(BBSRC), the

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British UK Research Councils, Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical scienc ...

(EPSRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC), the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Naismith joined the University of Oxford in 2017 as Professor of Structural Biology in the Nuffield Department of Medicine and Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College. He directed the Research Complex at Harwell between 2017 and 2019 and the Rosalind Franklin Institute from 2018.

Awards and honours

Naismith was awarded the 2000 Dextra Carbohydrate award and the 2009 Jeremy Knowles Prize in Chemical Biology both from the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

. Naismith was elected a

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 ...

(FRS) in 2014. His nomination reads: Naismith was part of the team awarded a 2022

Horizon Prize for their work on

nanobodies A single-domain antibody (sdAb), also known as a Nanobody, is an antibody fragment consisting of a single monomeric variable antibody domain. Like a whole antibody, it is able to bind selectively to a specific antigen. With a molecular weight of ...

against Covid19. Naismith is also

Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) is one of the most prestigious awards conferred by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in the United Kingdom. Existing Fellows include award winning scientists and Nobel prize winners. FRSC awa ...

(FRSC), the

Royal Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

(FRSB), the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

(FRSE), the

Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its mission is to adv ...

(FMedSci), an elected member of the

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

(EMBO), in 2016 was elected a

Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS) is an honor accorded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to distinguished persons who are members of the Association. Fellows are elected ...

(AAAS) and in 2022 elected a member of Academia Europaea (AE). His nomination for the Academy of Medical Sciences reads:

Personal life

Naismith is married to Rachel Middleton with whom he has one son and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naismith, James Henderson Living people Fellows of the Royal Society Academics of the University of St Andrews Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1968 births British chemists British biochemists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford Medical scholars of the University of Oxford