Professor Sir Alex Markham
Doctor of Medicine

Professor Markham has made contributions to medical science in various fields. He was awarded a joint honorary doctorate from the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex, in recognition of his pioneering work in medicine in particular, molecular genetics research and gene mutation in a variety of diseases.

After completing a PhD at the University of Birmingham in 1974, Professor Markham undertook postdoctoral work before spending 15 years in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industries. His commercial experience also includes the worldwide development of DNA fingerprinting for forensic and medico-legal applications, recognised by the Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement in 1990.

Sir Alex has been chairman of committees for the Medical Research Council, the Department of Health and the Welcome Trust. He is also a board member and former chairman of the National Cancer Research Institute. He has been a member of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration Board and the National Institute of Health Research Advisory Board. He serves on the Department of Health Ministerial Industry Strategy Group Advisory Panel and is chairman of the Office for the Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR) Translational Medicine Board. In 2007 he was appointed chairman of the NHS Connecting for Health Research Capability Programme. He received a knighthood in 2008 for services to medicine.