Prof David Holden honoured for his contributions to the knowledge of molecular mechanisms of pathogens such as Salmonella, and how they infect humans.
Announced on 6 June, the honour was granted by the Queen as part of her 90th birthday celebrations.
Imperial will confer the title on Professor David Holden who is one of the world’s leading experts on Salmonella bacteria, which cause diseases including gastroenteritis and typhoid fever.
Professor Holden is distinguished for outstanding contributions to the knowledge of molecular mechanisms of pathogens such as Salmonella, and how they infect humans. In 1995 he invented a powerful genetic screening technique called signature-tagged mutagenesis or ‘DNA barcoding'. This has had a huge impact on the understanding of many biological processes in both microbes and human cells, and has aided the design of vaccines against bacterial pathogens. Several patents on the technique have been granted, and it was a foundation for the formation of Microscience, a UK vaccine company.
Article text (excluding photos or graphics) available under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons license.
Photos and graphics subject to third party copyright used with permission or © Imperial College London.
Reporter
Kylie Glasgow
Department of Infectious Disease
