Professor David Latchman CBE, MA, PhD, DSc, FRCPath, FRSA
Professor Latchman obtained a BA with first class honours in Natural Sciences, specialising in Genetics, from the University of Cambridge in 1978 and was awarded a PhD in 1981 for a thesis entitled “Control of Alpha-fetoprotein gene expression in the mouse”. After a three-year period as a post-doctoral research Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry at Imperial College London, he was appointed Lecturer in Molecular Genetics in the Department of Biology at University College London. In 1988 he joined the UCL Department of Biochemistry and became Director of the Medical Molecular Biology Unit and, in 1990, Reader in Molecular Biology. In 1991 he became Professor of Molecular Pathology, Head of the Department of Chemical Pathology (a Department of the Medical School) and Head of the Division of Molecular Pathology which included both the Department of Chemical Pathology and the Medical Molecular Biology Unit. In 1993 the two parts of the Division formally merged to become the Department of Molecular Pathology. In 1995 he became Chairman of the Division of Pathology and Infectious Diseases, which included a number of Pathology Departments. In 1996 these were brought together in the Windeyer Institute of Medical Sciences of which he became Director. During this time he also became Deputy Head of the UCL Graduate School and Chairman of the Graduate School Strategy Committee which introduced Interdisciplinary scholarships for PhD students and was responsible for the creation of a number of Graduate School Research Scholarships for all disciplines. In 1999 he was appointed to the established Chair of Human Genetics at UCL and became Dean of the Institute of Child Health.
Professor Latchman has a track record as a fund-raiser, having raised over £9 million whilst Dean at the Institute of Child Health and also has significant experience of the commercial exploitation of intellectual property, having obtained Venture Capital funding to found a Company (BioVex Ltd) on the basis of patents developed by his laboratory.
Professor Latchman took up his appointment as Master of Birkbeck and Professor of Genetics at Birkbeck on 1 January 2003. He continues as Professor of Human Genetics at the Institute of Child Health, UCL where his laboratory is located. Professor Latchman has published extensively in the field of Genetics and Molecular Biology. He has continued to pursue a high level of research activity in addition to his management responsibilities.
Professor Latchman serves on a number of external committees including:
- Confederation of British Industry (CBI) London Council (member)
- National DNA Database Ethics Group (Home Office)
- London First Board (Member)
- National DNA Database Ethics Group
- Universities UK Research Policy Network (member)
- Westminster Academy Advisory Board (member)
- Women and Children First (Patron)
Professor Latchman was awarded the CBE for services to higher education in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 2010.