David Bailey (1969)

David read Natural Sciences at St John’s, followed by a PhD in Biochemistry supervised by Professor Don Northcote. Research fellowships funded by Unilever and NATO were followed by a move into the pharmaceutical industry, first at Pfizer in the UK and then at Incyte Genomics in California. In the space of only 10 years, David participated in the discovery of two important medicines (Viagra and Diflucan), the sequencing of the human genome and the development of a new multi-billion dollar biotech company – a very exciting and productive time. David hopes to stimulate interest across the Society in addressing the key scientific challenges of our times – global warming, biodiversity loss and clean energy production. In addition to his scientific interests, David is a long-standing member of the Choir Association and sings in several Cambridge choirs.