Christofer "Chris" Toumazou, CEng (Greek: Χριστόφορος Τουμάζου, born 5 July 1961) is a British Cypriot electronic engineer. He is perhaps best known for inventing a fast and portable means of genome sequencing, following his 13-year-old son's diagnosis with end stage kidney failure through a rare genetic mutation.[1]
Christofer Toumazou | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 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 |
In 2013 he became London's first Regius Professor of Engineering conferred to Imperial College London.[2]
For his inventions in semiconductor-based genetic testing he won the Gabor Medal of the Royal Society (2013) and European Inventor Award (2014).[3] He is the first British winner of the prize in this contest since 2008.[4]
Biography
editEarly life
editBorn to Greek-Cypriot parents in Cheltenham, Toumazou trained to become an electrician, inspired by an English uncle who was an electrical engineer.[5]
Academic career
editToumazou began undergraduate studies in 1980. He obtained both his undergraduate degree and doctorate at the then Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University).[6] 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 nanobiotechnology, becoming its first director and chief scientist.[7] His own specialism is in the field of personalised healthcare, providing worn or implantable devices for early diagnosis, and detection of disease.
Commercial career
editToumazou co-founded two companies which use silicon technology for early detection and management of chronic disease: Toumaz Technology Ltd and DNA Electronics Ltd.[8]
Honours and awards
edit- 2022: awarded UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences[9]
- 2020: awarded Joint Entrepreneur of the Year Award, UK BioIndustry Association (BIA)
- 2016: honoured with Lifetime Achievement accolade at Elektra European Electronics Industry Awards[10]
- 2014: awarded IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award 2015[11]
- 2014: awarded Faraday Medal of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
- 2014: honorary fellowship, Cardiff University[12]
- 2014: winner of the European Inventor Award of the European Patent Office[13]
- 2013: awarded Gabor Medal of the Royal Society[14]
- 2013: awarded Regius Professorship[15]
- 2013: elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences[16]
- 2011: awarded the J J Thomson medal from The Institution of Engineering and Technology[17]
- 2008: elected Fellow of The Royal Society[18]
- 2008: elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering[19]
References
edit- ^ "CNN,Chris Toumazou and Genalysis® on CNN Make Create Innovate". 12 June 2014.
- ^ "Imperial gets a diamond of a gift from The Queen | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Interview with Clive Cookson Financial Times
- ^ "Innovation in genetic technologies rewarded by UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in Life Sciences".
- ^ Williams, Alun (2 December 2016). "Elektra Awards 2016 – The Winners". Electronics Weekly. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ IEEE. (2024). IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award Recipients. https://corporate-awards.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/biomedical-engineering-rl.pdf
- ^ "News Centre - Honouring exceptional individuals". 26 July 2014. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Professor Christofer Toumazou | The Academy of Medical Sciences". acmedsci.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ The IET. 2022. Recipients of the J J Thomson Medal for Electronics. https://www.theiet.org/media/10776/winners-of-the-j-j-thomson-medal.pdf
- ^ "Toumaz's Professor Chris Toumazou Elected to Prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society". PRLog. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
- ^ "Six Imperial academics among new Fellows of Royal Academy of Engineering | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
