Nicholas José Talbot FRS FRSB (born 5 September 1965) is Group Leader and Executive Director at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich.Nick Talbot

Education

Talbot was educated at Midhurst Grammar School. He went on to study at the University of Wales, Swansea for a Bachelor of Science degree in

Microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

graduating in 1986. Following his undergraduate degree, he trained at the University of East Anglia (UEA) where he was awarded a PhD in 1990 for genetic and

genomic Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of molecular biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, ...

analysis of the leaf

mould A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi ...

''Cladosporuim fulvum''.

Career

After

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

from 1990 to 1993, Talbot was appointed a Lecturer at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

in 1993, and has been Professor of Molecular Genetics since 1999. He was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Transfer in 2010. In 2018 Talbot joined The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich as Group Leader and Executive Director.

Research

Talbot's research investigates

plant pathology Plant pathology or phytopathology is the scientific study of plant diseases caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Plant pathology involves the study of pathogen identification, disease ...

and

developmental biology Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of Regeneration (biology), regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and di ...

, especially the rice blast fungus ''

Magnaporthe grisea ''Magnaporthe grisea'', also known as rice blast fungus, rice rotten neck, rice seedling blight, blast of rice, oval leaf spot of graminea, pitting disease, ryegrass blast, Johnson spot, neck blast, wheat blast and , is a plant-pathogenic fungus ...

'', one of the world's most devastating diseases. Talbot is the editor of ''Molecular and Cellular Biology of Filamentous Fungi'' and ''Plant-Pathogen Interactions''. Talbot's research has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Talbot has twice been awarded prestigiou
European Research Council (ERC)
Advanced Grants in 2013 and 2022. His current ERC grant supports the SEPBLAST project which will build on his research group's recent discoveries on fungal morphogenetic proteins, called septins, being essential for the rice blast pathogen to cause disease.

Awards and honours

Talbot was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) in 2010, a member of the

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

in 2013, and a Member of Academia Europaea (MAE) in 2014. He was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2014. His nomination reads: In 2025, Talbot was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Personal life

Talbot is married to Catherine Ann Walsh, with two sons and one daughter.

References

1965 births Living people Alumni of Swansea University Alumni of the University of East Anglia Academics of the University of Exeter Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology People educated at Midhurst Grammar School People from Haslemere {{UK-biologist-stub