Vice-Chancellor, it gives me great pleasure to introduce Professor Dame Melanie Welham – eminent scientist and former Executive Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Professor Welham grew up in rural East Anglia, daughter of a farm worker and was the first in her family to attend university. Melanie went to Imperial College, London, graduating with a 1st class degree in Biochemistry. Melanie then completed her PhD at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories with Professor John Wyke in 1988, prior to moving to the Biomedical Research Centre at the University of British Columbia as a post-doctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Professor John Schrader. In 1995, she moved to the University of Bath to take up a lectureship in the then Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology (now Life Sciences). Professor Dame Melanie rose rapidly through the ranks to become the first female professor in the Department in 2004. This also included two periods of maternity leave while she was a lecturer. The results of her maternity leave (Laura and Alice, both of whom are sat in the audience today) have followed in their mother’s footsteps to study for PhDs, while this summer she followed in their footsteps to a Taylor Swift Era’s Tour Concert.
Melanie is internationally recognised for her scientific contributions on cell signalling (the coupling of a signal from outside a cell to pathways inside the cell). She has determined the regulation of functional responses in blood cells (with important implications for our understanding of basic cell biology and the development of cancer, particularly leukaemia). In 2003, Melanie was awarded a prestigious BBSRC Research Development Fellowship taking her research on cell signalling into a new direction, stem cell biology. Her group were amongst the first to provide evidence that the signalling pathway (known as the PI3 kinase pathway) is required for maintenance of the pluripotency (i.e. undifferentiated) property of embryonic stem cells. This pioneering fundamental work opened new research avenues to stem cell researchers across the world.
In 2012, Professor Welham went on secondment from the University of Bath to the BBSRC as Director of Science. The BBSRC is one of the leading research councils in the UK with a current annual budget of more than £420M. After three years as Director of Science, Melanie became interim Chief Executive Officer, before being appointed as the inaugural Executive Chair of the BBSRC upon the formation of UKRI in 2018. Our loss was BBSRC’s gain as they say.
At the BBSRC, Melanie’s achievements were numerous. To highlight just a few, she steered the research council towards giving prominence to understanding the rules of life and discovery science. Building on progress in synthetic biology, she championed development of engineering biology as an inter-disciplinary transformative technology, supported by research councils across UKRI. Through her influence, she secured support for engineering biology across UK governments (no easy feat where politicians are involved). Lastly, Melanie was the UKRI Executive champion for people, culture, and talent. Through her leadership, she developed a portfolio of pan UKRI approaches, the goal of which was to support a resilient world class research system in the UK with a culture that gives everyone the opportunity to thrive, contribute and benefit. UKRI’s first Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and enhanced support for post-graduate students were notable outputs. These examples encapsulate the council’s (and Melanie’s) unwavering support for UK (Bio)science.
Melanie stepped down in June 2023 and in acknowledgement of her contribution to the leadership of BBSRC and UK Bioscience, she was awarded a DBE in the King’s Birthday Honours. Melanie continues to contribute to higher education and the biosciences. She is an independent trustee at several institutions including the University of Bristol, the Royal Society of Biology and the John Innes Foundation.
Professor Dame Melanie is known for her dedication to promoting the values of scientific excellence, interdisciplinary research, career development, and equality, diversity and inclusivity in academia. This dedication echoes the University’s own values as we seek to foster scientific excellence and inclusion, equality and diversity. ViceChancellor, I present to you Professor Dame Melanie Welham who is eminently worthy to receive the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.