The Biochemical Society is a
learned society in the
United Kingdom in the field of
biochemistry, including all the cellular and molecular biosciences.
Structure
It currently has around 7000 members, two-thirds in the UK. It is affiliated with the European body,
Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS). The Society's current President (2016) is Sir
David Baulcombe. The Society's headquarters are in
London.
History
The society was founded in 1911 by
Benjamin Moore,
W.D. Halliburton
William Dobinson Halliburton FRS (21 June 1860, in Middlesex – 21 May 1931, in Exeter) was a British physiologist, noted for being one of the founders of the science of biochemistry.
William was one of four children (three sisters) born to T ...
and others, under the name of the Biochemical Club. It acquired the existing ''Biochemical Journal'' in 1912.
The society name changed to the Biochemical Society in 1913.
In 2005, the headquarters of the society moved from
Portland Place
Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. Named after the Third Duke of Portland, the unusually wide street is home to BBC Broadcasting House, the Chinese and Polish embassies, the Royal Institute of British A ...
to purpose-built offices in
Holborn.
In 2009, the headquarters moved again to Charles Darwin House, near
Gray's Inn Road.
Past presidents include Professor
Ron Laskey, Sir
Philip Cohen, and Sir
Tom Blundell.
Awards
The society makes a number of merit awards, four annually and others either biennially or triennially, to acknowledge excellence and achievement in both specific and general fields of science. The annual awards comprise the
Morton Lecture, the
Colworth Medal, the Centenary Award and the
Novartis Medal and Prize.
Publishing
The Society's wholly owned publishing subsidiary,