Richard Lathe, DSc

JAD profile

Affiliation(s): 

University of Edinburgh

Areas of Interest: 

Autism, Alzheimer, Parkinson

Biography & Research: 

Background Richard Lathe graduated BSc (Molecular Biology) from the University of Edinburgh, studying under Bill Hayes and Martin Pollock. This was followed by Docteur es Sciences under Rene Thomas at the University of Brussels (Ciba-Geigy Fellowship). His postdoctoral studies were with Ekkehard Bautz at Heidelberg (EMBO), and Michael Ashburner at Cambridge (SERC). He was subsequently appointed Deputy Scientific Director at Transgene, Strasbourg, France (Biotech industry) and then Head of Molecular Biology at ARC ABRO, Edinburgh. Returning to Strasbourg to work with Pierre Chambon he was for several years titular Professor and Director of the Biotechnology School at the University of Strasbourg. For more than 10 years he was Professor and Chairman of the Centre for Genome Research at the University of Edinburgh. Other employments have included Permanent Advisor, GLSV Munich, Germany (Venture Capital for science start-up), Director, Pieta Research Consultancy, Edinburgh, and Professor at the State University of Pushchino, Moscow, Russia. He is Honorary Fellow at the Division of Infection and Pathway Medicine at Edinburgh University. Research Interests Research experience has ranged from bacterial genetics to Drosophila to vaccines against viral disease. He was instrumental in the development of the vaccine that has now eradicated rabies in France and other European countries. Accomplishments include the generation of the first transgenic sheep. Highly-cited publications concern the design of oligonucleotide probes from amino acid sequence data, the development of the rabies vaccine, and gene cloning advances focusing on breast cancer and steroid metabolism. Previous grant awards have been from the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, and the European Commission, where he was Coordinator for a trans-Europe research initiative. Recent research aims towards an understanding of brain function and dysfunction. Notable contributions include the discovery of CYP7B, a steroid and sterol hydroxylase predominantly expressed in the hippocampus. His monograph on autism was commended by the British Medical Association (2007). Current research focuses on the potential contribution of infectious agents to Alzheimer disease and other conditions including autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. His current focus is on understanding the link between steroid/sterol metabolism, cognition, ageing, and brain disease. Professor Lathe maintains an active interest in the origin of life, and is the originator of the Tidal Chain Reaction theory. He has acted as Expert Witness at the European Patent Court and Expert Reviewer for the European Commission.