Chris Toumazou
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Christofer Toumazou | |
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| Born | 5 July 1961 Cheltenham, England |
| Alma mater | Oxford Brookes University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Electronic Engineering/Medical Technology |
| Institutions | Imperial College London |
| Thesis | Universal current-mode analogue amplifiers (1986) |
| Doctoral advisor | Francis John Lidgey |
Christofer "Chris" Toumazou, FRS, FREng, FMedSci, FIET, FIEEE, FCGI, FRSM, CEng (Greek: Χριστόφορος Τουμάζου, born 5 July 1961) is a British Cypriot electronic engineer.
In 2013 he became London's first Regius Professor of Engineering conferred to Imperial College London.
He has been involved in developing new technologies, mainly in the medical field, creating a research institute and a number of commercial ventures to commercialise his research. Toumazou invented and licensed Portable and Rapid Semiconductor Genome Sequencing which has now become a multimillion-dollar industry. One of his motivators was the diagnosis of his 13-year-old son with end stage kidney failure through a rare genetic mutation.[1]
For his inventions on semiconductor based genetic testing he won the Gabor Medal of the Royal Society (2013) and European Inventor Award (2014).[2] He is the first British winner of the prize in this contest since 2008.[3]
Biography
Early life
Born to Greek-Cypriot parents in Cheltenham, it was expected he would follow his family by going into catering. He later trained to become an electrician, and was inspired by an English uncle who was an electrical engineer.[4]
Academic career
Toumazou began undergraduate studies in 1980. He obtained both his undergraduate degree and doctorate at the then Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University).[5] He moved to Imperial College London in 1986 as a Research Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering becoming the youngest professor at Imperial in 1994 at the age of 33. He was appointed Head of the Circuits and Systems Group in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and then Head of the Department of Bioengineering in 2001.
In 2003 he raised a total of £22m to create the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London, a multidisciplinary research institute focusing on personalised medicine and bionanotechnology.[6] He became its first Director and Chief Scientist. His own specialism is in the field of personalised healthcare, providing worn or implantable devices for early diagnosis and detection of disease.
Regius Professorship
Toumazou was awarded a Regius professorship, recognising the highest standard of research and teaching in the Faculty of Engineering.[7]
Commercial career
He has co-founded technology-based companies using silicon technology for early detection and management of chronic disease: Toumaz Technology Ltd and DNA Electronics Ltd. These companies are examples of the successful translation of innovative inter-disciplinary research into disruptive market-driven products with practical benefits for patients.[8]
Honours and awards
- 2022 UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences[9]
- 2020 Joint Entrepreneur of the Year Award, UK BioIndustry Association (BIA)
- 2016 Honoured with Lifetime Achievement accolade at Elektra European Electronics Industry Awards http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/elektra-awards-news/elektra-awards-2016-winners-2016-12/
- 2014 Awarded IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award 2015 http://www.ieee.org/about/awards/tfas/biomed_eng.html
- 2014 Awarded Faraday Medal of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
- 2014 Honorary Fellowship, Cardiff University [1]
- Winner of 2014 European Inventor Award[10] of the European Patent Office
- 2013 Awarded Gabor Medal of the Royal Society[11]
- 2013 Awarded Regius Professorship[12]
- 2008 Elected Fellow of The Royal Society[13]
References
- ^ "CNN,Chris Toumazou and Genalysis® on CNN Make Create Innovate".
- ^ Toumazou, Chris. "Invention: Microchip for quick DNA testing". European Patent Office.
- ^ "Technology for the common man' Financial Times, Engineering the future, 18 June 2014". Financial Times. 17 June 2014.
- ^ "Chris Toumazou", BBC Discovery podcast, 17 November 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2017
- ^ McKie, Robin (15 June 2014). "Newly crowned: Europe's top inventor". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ "Bio-Inspired Technologies" (PDF). Ingenia Issue 37 December 2008. Royal Academy of Engineering. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
- ^ http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_30-1-2013-17-4-29
- ^ Interview with Clive Cookson Financial Times
- ^ "Innovation in genetic technologies rewarded by UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in Life Sciences".
- ^ "Christofer Toumazou (United Kingdom): Winner of the European Inventor Award 2014 in the category research". European Patent Office.
- ^ "Gabor Medal". Royal Society. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ "Imperial College London has been awarded a prestigious Regius professorship, recognising the highest standard of research and teaching in the Faculty of Engineering". Imperial. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- ^ "Toumaz's Professor Chris Toumazou Elected to Prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society". PRLog. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
External links
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