Professor Sir Jim Smith FMedSci FRS is Director of Science at Wellcome and Senior Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute. He joined Wellcome in December 2016. He is responsible for leading the Science Division, developing Wellcome’s science strategy and managing a broad portfolio of research.

A globally recognised developmental biologist, Professor Smith’s research interests include inductive interactions in vertebrate development and applying the principles of developmental biology to stem cell differentiation.

His previous roles include Director of the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute and Director of the MRC National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), where he oversaw its transition to the Francis Crick Institute. More recently, he has been Deputy CEO and Chief of Strategy at the Medical Research Council, and Director of Research and Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute.

Professor Smith has a distinguished career in scientific research as a Fellow of the Royal Society (1993), a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1998) and a member of the Academia Europaea (2000). He has also been awarded the EMBO Medal (1993) and the Waddington Medal (2013). Professor Smith was knighted in the 2017 Queen’s New Year’s Honours list.