Sir John Bell

Who Sir John Bell is

Professor Sir John Bell is President of the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) Oxford and Co-CEO of EIT Global, roles he took up from 1 April 2024 after stepping down as Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, a chair he held from 2002 to 2024. He trained at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and undertook postgraduate work in London and at Stanford University, where he developed research interests in immunology and genetics, particularly autoimmune disease. In 1993 he founded Oxford's Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics and has served as a UK Government Life Sciences Champion since 2011, authoring the 2017 Life Sciences Industrial Strategy. During the Covid-19 pandemic he was pivotal in enabling the development of lateral flow testing platforms and played a major role in the development and roll-out of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. He was knighted in 2015 for services to medicine and the life sciences industry, and appointed a Companion of Honour in the King's Birthday Honours in 2023.

References for this biography

1. 1.Regius Professor of Medicine, Sir John Bell, to step down from Oxford role | Oxford University — Confirms departure from Oxford Regius chair, appointment as EIT Oxford President and Co-CEO EIT Global, Covid-19 testing and vaccine roles, knighthood and Companion of Honour
2. 2.Regius Professor of Medicine, Sir John Bell, to step down from Oxford role — University of Oxford, Medical Sciences Division — Confirms Oxford career timeline, Covid-19 lateral flow and vaccine roles, honours
3. 3.Pioneer Prof Sir John Bell appointed as President, Ellison Institute of Technology | EIT Oxford — Confirms current role at EIT Oxford, role in creating Genomics England, UK Biobank and Our Future Health, Covid pandemic contributions
4. 4.Life Sciences Industrial Strategy – A report to the Government from the life sciences sector — Confirms Bell as author of the 2017 Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, signed as Regius Professor and Chairman of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research
5. 5.Professor Sir John Bell CH GBE – Oxford Academic Health Partners — Confirms career chronology, Life Sciences Champion role since 2011, Fellowship of Royal Society, Companion of Honour 2023
6. 6.Bold UK-Strategy in Life Sciences – European Biotechnology Magazine — Confirms Bell's current role as UK Government Life Sciences Champion alongside Sir Jon Symonds, and the 2025 Life Sciences Sector Plan
7. 7.UK Life Sciences Sector Plan to grow economy and transform NHS – Innovation News Network — Confirms Bell's current dual title: President of the Ellison Institute of Technology and UK Government Life Sciences Champion (July 2025)

Notable achievements

• Authored the 2017 Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, a government-commissioned report that shaped UK life sciences policy and inward investment for over a decade. Source ↗
• Pivotal in enabling the development of lateral flow testing platforms and helping to initiate the national Covid-19 testing programme. Source ↗
• Played a major role in the development and roll-out of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Source ↗
• Founded the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford in 1993, one of the world's leading centres for complex trait common disease genetics. Source ↗
• Was crucial in creating Genomics England, UK Biobank and Our Future Health. Source ↗
• Appointed Companion of Honour in the King's Birthday Honours 2023, having been knighted (GBE) in 2015 for services to medicine and the life sciences industry. Source ↗

What Sir John Bell has said

• “Industry bosses had told him that they see Britain as a poor bet. They demand more subsidies, higher drug-price caps and fast NHS approval for expensive new biopharma treatments.”

  Oxford's former regius professor of medicine · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · The Guardian view on Merck’s exit: Britain’s biopharma strategy stalls in the face of China’s rise | Editorial ↗

Where Sir John Bell has been quoted

1. Big pharma will stop investing in UK, top scientist warns after Merck’s £1bn exittheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. The Guardian view on Merck’s exit: Britain’s biopharma strategy stalls in the face of China’s rise | Editorialtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Leaders in Care Awards 2026 | Lifetime Achievement: Care Homes winner revealedHome Care Insight
• GP architect of neighbourhood health reforms to leave NHS EnglandPulse Today
• An important step forward in ending corridor care - Colin Poolman | Blog | RCN ScotlandRoyal College of Nursing

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://acmedsci.ac.uk/about/governance/academy-president/professor-sir-john-bell
• Staff pagehttps://royalsociety.org/people/john-bell-11067/
• Staff pagehttps://eit.org/sir-john-bell-joins-eit-oxford/
• Websitehttps://eit.orgpublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.