Neil Andrew Robert Gow (born 30 November 1957) is a professor of

Microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

and deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Exeter. Previously he served at the University of Aberdeen for 38 years and retains an honorary Chair there.

Education

Gow was educated

Madras College Madras College, often referred to as Madras, is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school located in St Andrews, Fife. It educates over 1,400 pupils aged between 11 and 18 and was founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell. History Madras ...

and

Perth Academy Perth Academy is a state comprehensive secondary school in Perth, Scotland. It was founded in 1696. The institution is a non-denominational one. The school occupies ground on the side of a hill in the Viewlands area of Perth, and is within the Pe ...

. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen where he was awarded a PhD in 1982 for research on the

pathogenic fungus Pathogenic fungi are fungi that cause disease in humans or other organisms. Approximately 300 fungi are known to be pathogenic to humans. Markedly more fungi are known to be pathogenic to plant life than those of the animal kingdom. The study of fu ...

'' Candida albicans'' supervised by

Graham Gooday Graham William Gooday (1942–2001) was a British molecular biologist. He was Professor of Microbiology at Aberdeen University. He was presented with the inaugural Fleming Prize Lecture for the Microbiological Society in 1976. He served as Di ...

Research and career

Gow's research career has been in the field of

fungal biology ''Fungal Biology'' is a scientific journal that publishes peer-reviewed papers on all aspects of basic and applied research of the fungi, including lichens, yeasts, oomycetes, and slime moulds. A publication of the British Mycological Society, it w ...

and

medical mycology Pathogenic fungi are fungi that cause disease in humans or other organisms. Approximately 300 fungi are known to be pathogenic to humans. Markedly more fungi are known to be pathogenic to plant life than those of the animal kingdom. The study of fu ...

. He is known for his discoveries in fungal biology and genetics, morphogenesis and pathogenesis. His studies of how the cell walls of fungal pathogenic species is assembled, responds to antifungal antibiotics and is recognised by the human immune system directly impacts on the design and use of antifungal drugs, diagnostics and

immunotherapies Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...

for fungal diseases. After his PhD, Gow worked in Denver before returning to Aberdeen, where he has developed a team that has recently become a

Medical Research Council (MRC) The Medical Research Council (MRC) is responsible for co-coordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI), which came into operation 1 April 2018, and brings together t ...

Centre for Medical Mycology and is one of the largest centres in this field worldwide. He has helped co-ordinate UK training and research in medical mycology and has acted as President of the British Mycological Society, the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM) and the Microbiology Society.

Awards and honours

Gow has received several awards for his research, he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci), the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

(FRSE) and the American Academy of Microbiology. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2016 One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB).

References

Living people Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) 1957 births Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People educated at Perth Academy People educated at Madras College {{UK-scientist-stub