David W Burt Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution Conference 2016

David W Burt

Professor David W. Burt received his B.Sc. (1st class) in Molecular Biology at Edinburgh University in 1977, a PhD in molecular genetics from Leicester University in 1980. Awards and honours include: Human Frontier Science Program award (2015), elected Fellow of the Linnean Society (2014), elected Fellow of the Galton Institute (2014) and elected Fellow of Society Biology (2013). His post-doctoral training included research on molecular genetics of a wide range of species (bacteriophage lambda, bacteria, mouse, rat, human, sheep and poultry) and research areas (transcription circuits, growth factors, hypertension, QTL mapping, bioinformatics, phylogenetics and avian genomics). He has worked in the ICI-Joint Lab at Leicester University, Harvard Medical School (USA), MRC Clinical Research Centre (London) and Roslin Institute/Edinburgh University. He was appointed Head of the Avian Genomics Group in 1988, served as Director of ARK-Genomics until 2010, Director of the National Avian Research Facility in 2014 and Chair of Comparative Genomics, University of Edinburgh in 2009. His current research is focused on applications in comparative genomics. Current projects include: (i) assembly and annotation of the chicken genome; (ii) evolution and comparison of avian genomes; (iii) seasonal control of gene expression in sheep and other vertebrates; (iv) host susceptibility towards avian viral infections and (v) development of new tools for genome selection in poultry populations. He has published over 200 scientific papers. He has served on a number of scientific committees and boards, including BBSRC Animal Science Committee and Animal Systems Panel, Scottish Branch Council of the Society of Biology, Board for Edinburgh Genomics, Council of the Galton Institute and a number of editorial boards. He is active in promoting livestock and avian genomics as co-chair in various consortia and international meetings, including the International Chicken Genome Consortium, International Society for Animal Genetics, Avian Phylogenomics Group and Genome10K, International Avian RNA-Seq Consortium and Avian Model Systems.