People

CNAP is a community of more than 90 researchers and technical staff.

Meet our Director and research leaders

Name	Expertise	Contact Details
Professor Ian Bancroft CNAP Chair of Plant Genomics	Genome evolution Food security Industrial biotechnology	ian.bancroft@york.ac.uk
Professor Neil Bruce CNAP Chair in Biotechnology	Environmental biotechnology Biocatalysis Biorefining	neil.bruce@york.ac.uk
Professor Katherine Denby (Director) CNAP Director, Professor of Sustainable Crop Production	Plant biology Food security Agricultural biotechnology	katherine.denby@york.ac.uk
Dr Ousmane Dao Royal Society Career Development Fellow	Algal physiology and metabolism Photosynthetic measurement Algal photorespiration	ousmane.dao@york.ac.uk
Professor Ian Graham FRS Academic Director of BioYorkshire and Weston Chair of Biochemical Genetics	Plant biology Biochemical genetics Agricultural biotechnology Medicinal crops Synthetic biology	ian.graham@york.ac.uk
Dr Leonardo Gomez Senior Research Fellow	Plant biology Biorefining Industrial biotechnology Seaweed valorisation	leonardo.gomez@york.ac.uk
Dr Andrea Harper Director of Postgraduate Research, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Plant Biology	Food security Plant disease and stress biology Plant-microbe interactions Integrated omics analysis	andrea.harper@york.ac.uk
Dr Benjamin R. Lichman Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Plant Biochemistry	Natural product biosynthesis Specialised metabolism Engineering and synthetic biology Biocatalysis and biotechnology Phylogenomics and evolution	benjamin.lichman@york.ac.uk
Professor Luke Mackinder CNAP Chair in Algal Cell and Molecular Biology, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow	Carbon fixation in algae and cyanobacteria Systems and synthetic biology	luke.mackinder@york.ac.uk
Dr Liz Rylott Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor)	Industrial biotechnology Plant-based environmental remediation and metal recovery Renewable growing media Rhizosphere microbiome engineering	liz.rylott@york.ac.uk
Dr Federico Sabbadin Lecturer (Assistant Professor)	Biorefining Food security Enzymology	federico.sabbadin@york.ac.uk
Dr Thierry Tonon Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Algal Biology	Algal physiology and metabolism Algal metabolic pathways and enzymes Biotechnological applications of algae and algal genes Valorisation of seaweed biomass	thierry.tonon@york.ac.uk
Dr Charlotte Walker Research Fellow, BBSRC Discovery Fellow	Algal biology Algal carbon fixation and biomineralisation Synthetic biology	charlotte.walker@york.ac.uk
Dr Sam Wilkinson BBSRC Discovery Fellow	Plant biology Food security Plant-herbivore interactions Plant-microbe interactions	samuel.wilkinson@york.ac.uk
Erin Gray Research Administrator		+44 (0)1904 328776 erin.gray@york.ac.uk
Judith Mitchell Senior Research Administrator		+44 (0)1904 328752 judith.mitchell@york.ac.uk