Sir Alexander Fred Markham, born 1950, is

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

Medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, Director of the Molecular Medicine Institute at

St James's University Hospital St James's University Hospital ''Confirming name as "St James's"'' is in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England and is popularly known as Jimmy's. It is one of the United Kingdom's most famous hospitals due to its coverage on television. It is managed ...

, and a former Chief Executive of

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

Academic career

Markham graduated from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Chemistry in 1971 and a PhD, also in Chemistry, in 1974. He qualified in

in 1985 at the Universities of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Markham has been one of the pioneers of molecular genetics research in the UK from the late 1980s. His work has included the development of

DNA Fingerprinting DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding. DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...

, work which received the

Queen's Award for Technological Achievement Queens is a borough of New York City. Queens or Queen's may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Queens (group), a Polish musical group * "Queens" (Saara Aalto song), 2018 * ''Queens'' (novel), by Stephen Pickles, 1984 * "Queens", a song by C ...

in 1990. He has been Professor of Medicine at the University of Leeds since 1993. Markham serves on a number of Advisory Panels for the Medical Research Council and the Department of Health. He is Chairman of the Office for the Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR) Translational Medicine Board. He is a fellow of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its mission is to adv ...

and a former Chairman of the

National Cancer Research Institute The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) is a UK-wide partnership between cancer research funders, which promotes collaboration in cancer research. Its member organizations work together to maximize the value and benefit of cancer research fo ...

Personal life

Markham's wife Lisa, Lady Markham, known as Dr Lisa Brown, is an expert biochemist and a member of the

British Toxicology Society The British Toxicology Society has over 900 members (as of January 2020) who are based in over 40 countries. It is the National British professional association for toxicologists. The remit of the Society is to promote the advancement of the scienc ...

. She works as a

Chartered Patent Attorney The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) is the British professional body of patent attorneys. History The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) was founded in 1882 as the ''Chartered Institute of Patent Agents'' and incorp ...

. The couple live in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

with their children Grace and James 'Mini' Markham, formerly treasurer of UoBARFC. Markham is also a fan of Manchester City

Honours

Markham received a knighthood in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to medicine. He has been awarded

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

s from: * University of Surrey *

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

( D.Univ) on 7 November 2008 *

(

D.Sc Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

) in 2006 *

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achiev ...

( MD) in Summer 2012 *

( D.Univ) in 2013

Charitable work

Professor Markham sits on the boards of many charities, including: *

Arthritis Research UK Versus Arthritis is the UK's largest charity dedicated to supporting people with arthritis. It was launched in September 2018, following the legal merger of the two leading arthritis charities in the UK, Arthritis Research UK and Arthritis Care ...

* The Candlelighters Trust * The Foulkes Foundation Foulkes Foundation http://www.foulkes-foundation.org/the-trustees/ * The

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Markham, Alexander Living people British molecular biologists Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Academics of the University of Leeds Alumni of the University of Birmingham 1950 births