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Professor in the Department of Biosciences+44 (0) 191 33 41335

Biography

Patrick joined Durham University in 2000 as Chair of Plant Molecular Cell Biology and served as Head of the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences between 2010 and 2013, and as a member of the University Executive Committee as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Science) between 2014 and 2019.

Previously, after postdoctoral work at the University of Minnesota and the John Innes Centre, he took up a lectureship in Royal Holloway University of London, where he was awarded a Personal Chair in 1999. Also while at Royal Holloway, he served as Warden of Founder’s Hall.

Patrick is a former President of the Society of Experimental Biology (2015-17) and has previously served as a Group Convenor for the Cell Section, Head of the Cell Section and Vice-President of the Society (2013-15).

In 2016, he was elected to the Council of the Royal Society of Biology by the Member Organisations.

Patrick is a former Trustee of the Centre for Life in Newcastle, where he served on the Board and as Chair of the Audit Committee (2014-19).

Patrick currently serves on the Editorial board of Current Biology, and has served on several research panels including for Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR, France) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). He is a visiting Professor at the University of Lisbon (Prof Catedictics Canidado, FCUL), Huazhong Agricultural University and Charles University, Prague (from 1st Feb 2020)

Patrick established the Durham Centre for Bioimaging Technology with Dr. Tim J Hawkins and bioimaging is a main feature of his research methodology. His research focuses on the structure, function and regulation of the plant cytoskeleton with a current emphasis on cytoskeleton and membrane interactions.

Patrick holds an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from the University of Liverpool and a PhD in Biology from the University of Kent at Canterbury in association with the John Innes Centre, Norwich.

Research interests

  • actin associated proteins
  • microtubule associated proteins
  • novel design of herbicides and herbicide resistance
  • plant cytoskeleton
  • signalling to the cytoskeleton

Publications

Authored book

Chapter in book

Edited book

Journal Article