Ben Schumann (left) and Pontus Skoglund (right).
Francis Crick Institute group leaders Ben Schumann and Pontus Skoglund have been selected as two of this year’s new European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) Young Investigators.
Along with 26 successful applicants from this year, they will join the existing network of 130 current and 368 former members of the programme.
The EMBO Young Investigator Programme supports life scientists who have been group leaders for less than four years and have an excellent track record of scientific achievements.
Ben is a chemical biologist with an interest in the biology of a group of carbohydrates called glycans. His lab at the Crick use synthetic ‘precision tools’ to understand how particular carbohydrate molecules control processes in and on living cells. He is also a lecturer at Imperial College London.
On receiving the news, he said: “I’m thrilled to be joining the EMBO young investigator programme and to be part of such a brilliant group of scientists from across Europe. It’s a wonderful recognition of my team’s work and I look forward to our group and our research benefitting from this valuable support.”
Pontus is an evolutionary geneticist who set up the ancient genomics laboratory at the Crick to study human evolution and its relevance to health. His team use highly sensitive techniques in a specialised laboratory to extract and analyse DNA and proteins from ancient skeletal material so that we can understand the people and animal populations of the past.
He said: “It’s an honour to be selected as an EMBO Young Investigator. EMBO is a brilliant
organisation as these programmes are important to encourage international collaboration as well as support specific research endeavours in biomedicine. I’m grateful for the recognition, which reflects the effort of everyone in my lab."
