Programme Speakers
Mike Dawson
Mike Dawson completed a BA in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge in 1978 and a PhD in microbial biochemistry at the University of Leicester in 1981. He joined Glaxo as a fermentation scientist in 1981 and spent over 20 years with Glaxo, Glaxo Wellcome and GlaxoSmithKline. In his role as Head of Biotransformation and Natural Product Chemistry Mike and his team were responsible for discovery and development of biologically-active natural products from plant and microbial sources as well as for reviewing opportunities to use biotechnology in the synthesis of any of the company’s development candidates. In his time in GSK and former companies Mike was a keen advocate of working with the academic community and established and managed many academic collaborations.
In 2002 Mike left GSK to co-found Novacta Biosystems Limited. Novacta is a company developing new antibiotics for infectious diseases and with a services business which develops biological processes for other companies in the pharmaceutical, fine chemicals, foods, flavours, personal care and biofuels sectors. Based in Welwyn Garden City, Novacta has grown to 23 staff and has recently been awarded a Strategic Translational Award from the Wellcome Trust to fund the development of its drug candidates for Clostridium difficile infection into the clinic. Mike is currently Novacta’s Chief Scientific Officer.
