Prof Chris Abell

Chris Abell is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and the Professor of Biological Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. His research focus is on using fragment-based methods in drug discovery and chemical biology. In 1999, he co-founded Astex, which grew to become the world-leading company in fragment-based drug discovery. He also has research interests in developing microdroplets as a novel experimental platform, which led to the co-founding of Sphere Fluidics (2010) and Aqdot (2013). Chris has published over 280 papers and is an inventor on numerous patents. He was a founding director of Cambridge Enterprise. From 2013-2015 he was the first Director of Postdoctoral Affairs and oversaw the formation of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs in the University. He was elected into the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2012 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2016.