Minister Sherlock welcomes appointment of New Director General at Science Foundation Ireland
Issued : Monday 9 January, 2012
Statement by Sean Sherlock TD
Minister of State, Department of Enterprise, Jobs & Innovation and Department of Education & Skills with responsibility for Research & Innovation
The Minister for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock T.D., today (Monday) welcomed the announcement of the appointment of Professor Mark Ferguson, a renowned scientist and innovator, as Director General of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).
Minister Sherlock said: "I am delighted that Ireland has secured someone of the proven calibre of Professor Ferguson, both in terms of his scientific research capacity and extensive commercialisation experience.
"He takes up his role as SFI Director General at both a critical and opportune time. Ireland has built a strong science base and Professor Ferguson's challenge will be to accelerate the translation of SFI's investments into economic impact and commercialisation opportunities."
"HIs wealth of experience in the life sciences, biotechnology and enterprise arenas make him an ideal figure to lead such a pivotal organisation as SFI and forge even closer ties between Irish based researchers and industry.
"Attracting someone of Professor Ferguson's calibre to Ireland represents a tremendous coup.
"I now look forward to working closely with Professor Ferguson and SFI to further enhancing Ireland's research and commercialisation credentials at home and abroad", Minister Sherlock concluded.
In addition to a stellar academic career Professor Ferguson has been a leader in company incubation in Manchester and is a co-founder of Renovo, a biotechnology company developing novel pharmaceutical therapies.
Born in Northern Ireland, Professor Ferguson is a graduate of Queens University of Belfast with degrees in Dentistry (BDS 1st class honours), Anatomy and Embryology (BSc 1st class honours, PhD) and Medical Sciences (DMedSc). He holds Fellowships from the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in Ireland (FFD) and Edinburgh (FDS) and is a Founding Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).
Prof. Mark Ferguson was appointed Professor in Life Sciences at the University of Manchester in 1984, at the age of just 28. He is current Honorary Professor of Life Sciences at the University. He is the recipient of numerous international awards, prizes, medals and honours for his research including a CBE from Queen Elizabeth in 1999 for services to Health and Life Sciences.
Prof. Ferguson will take up his position as Director General of Science Foundation Ireland on Monday 16th January 2012.
Further information:
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) [www.sfi.ie] with a staffing complement of 47, invests in academic researchers and research teams who are most likely to generate new knowledge, leading edge technologies and competitive enterprises in the fields of science and engineering underpinning three broad areas:
- Biotechnology; Information and communications technology; and Sustainable energy and energy efficient technologies
As the State's principal research funding agency, SFI has a pivotal role in enhancing Ireland's human capital in strategic areas of scientific endeavour relevant to the future competitiveness of Irish industry and enterprise.
SFI is directly supporting approximately 3,000 researchers and 28 top-class research centres based across Ireland's higher education institutions.
In building Ireland's research base SFI is supporting economic and enterprise development, enabling wealth generation and also driving advances in areas such as healthcare, the environment, energy and education sectors. Significant economic benefits are accruing from SFI funded researchers through their connections with industry across all SFI programmes.
In 2011, due to the strong research capacity that has been built up in Ireland through SFI and the other state agencies/research funders in recent years, IDA Ireland managed to secure 41 FDI wins with a direct research, development and innovation component. The value of these 41 project wins in 2011 amounts to approx. €700m - significantly up from the 2009 and 2010 levels of €500m - demonstrating Ireland's strong research capacity, particularly in the fields of ICT and Life Sciences.
Professor Mark Ferguson - Additional Biographical Details
- Author of 325 research papers and book chapters, 8 books and 60 patent families.
- He has delivered hundreds of plenary lectures at international scientific conferences and has been a regular contributor to television and radio programmes.
- Particular interest in translating scientific research findings into successful commercial entities.
- He founded the Manchester Biosciences Incubator, which has successfully mentored and housed a number of start-up companies.
- He co-founded Renovo (www.renovo.com), a biopharmaceutical product company and leader in the discovery and development of drugs to reduce scarring, improve wound healing and enhance tissue regeneration.
- Former President of the European Tissue Repair Society, he has chaired the first UK Government's Health and Life Sciences Foresight Panel, and served on many committees (e.g. UKTI Life Sciences Marketing Board, Committee of Safety of Medicines Biological Subcommittee and European Space Agency).
- He has served on the Board of a number of international biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies
- Made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth in 1999 for services to Health and Life Sciences.
- His research interests include cellular and molecular mechanisms in scarring and wound healing, developmental mechanisms in normal and cleft palate formation, alligator and crocodile biology. He is the discoverer of scar free embryonic wound healing and temperature dependent sex determination in alligators and crocodiles.
