Julian Rayner

Julian Charles Rayner is a malaria researcher, and the Director of the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, part of the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. He is also Director of Wellcome Genome Campus Connecting Science. He was previously a member of academic Faculty at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Julian Rayner
Julian Rayner in 2018
Born
Julian Charles Rayner
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge (PhD)
Scientific career
InstitutionsWellcome Sanger Institute
Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Cambridge
ThesisSorting of membrane proteins in the yeast secretory pathway (1997)
Websitesanger.ac.uk/people/directory/rayner-julian

Julian Rayner became Director of CIMR in 2019.[1]

Education

Rayner completed his undergraduate studies in New Zealand, before undertaking his PhD at the University of Cambridge[2]. His doctoral research investigated the sorting of membrane proteins in the yeast secretory pathway while based at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge.[2]

Career and research

Rayner joined the Sanger Institute in 2008,and became a Senior Group Leader in 2013.[3] In 2014 he was appointed as the Director of Connecting Science for the Wellcome Genome Campus.[4]

In 2019, he joined the University of Cambridge, as the Director of the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research.[1] He was also elected to the Chair of Cell Biology in the School of Clinical Medicine. [5]

Rayner's research interests encompass the origins of Plasmodium parasites, and how their invasion of red blood cells cause all the symptoms of malaria. Working with collaborators such as Beatrice Hahn, he has demonstrated that Plasmodium falciparum is likely to have originated in gorillas, rather than chimpanzees or ancient humans.[6] Together with colleagues at the Sanger Institute, Rayner has identified a key ligand which is essential for erythrocyte invasion by P. falciparum and therefore has significant anti-malarial potential.[7]

Public engagement

In March 2011 Rayner took part in the Argon Zone of the science engagement activity I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here!, where he won £500 to put towards a science communication project.[8] Rayner used the prize money to create compact disc versions of the interactive game Malaria Challenge[9] and distributed copies freely to schools in the UK.[10]

Honours and awards

In 2015 he was awarded CA Wright Memorial medal by the British Society for Parasitology.[11]

References
  1. "A New Director for the CIMR".
  2. Rayner, Julian Charles (1997). Sorting of membrane proteins in the yeast secretory pathway. jisc.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC 154434100. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.627276.
  3. "Dr Julian Rayner - Senior Group Leader".
  4. "Genome Campus appoints Director of Scientific Conferences and Engagement".
  5. "Malaria expert appointed Director of Cambridge Institute of Medical Research".
  6. Liu, W; Li, Y; Learn, G. H.; Rudicell, R. S.; Robertson, J. D.; Keele, B. F.; Ndjango, J. B.; Sanz, C. M.; Morgan, D. B.; Locatelli, S; Gonder, M. K.; Kranzusch, P. J.; Walsh, P. D.; Delaporte, E; Mpoudi-Ngole, E; Georgiev, A. V.; Muller, M. N.; Shaw, G. M.; Peeters, M; Sharp, P. M.; Rayner, J. C.; Hahn, B. H. (2010). "Origin of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in gorillas". Nature. 467 (7314): 420–5. Bibcode:2010Natur.467..420L. doi:10.1038/nature09442. PMC 2997044. PMID 20864995.
  7. Crosnier, C; Bustamante, L. Y.; Bartholdson, S. J.; Bei, A. K.; Theron, M; Uchikawa, M; Mboup, S; Ndir, O; Kwiatkowski, D. P.; Duraisingh, M. T.; Rayner, J. C.; Wright, G. J. (2011). "Basigin is a receptor essential for erythrocyte invasion by Plasmodium falciparum". Nature. 480 (7378): 534–7. Bibcode:2011Natur.480..534C. doi:10.1038/nature10606. PMC 3245779. PMID 22080952.
  8. "Argon Zone – I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here". Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  9. https://www.yourgenome.org/interactives/malaria-challenge
  10. "I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here". Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  11. "CA Wright Memorial Medal". Archived from the original on 2012-06-10. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
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