Simon Davis 
I grew up in South Australia and completed a science degree at Flinders University in Adelaide in 1982. My PhD studies on Dictyostelium developmental biochemistry at Flinders were supervised by John Wheldrake. Under John’s influence I developed an interest in the cell surface and became particularly impressed by the pioneering work of Alan Williams on the T-cell surface. During a brief stint in California at UCSD as a visiting student in the laboratories of Hud Freeze and Ajit Varki, I became aware of the power of molecular biological techniques and the need to do medically oriented research as a long-term career strategy. In 1987 I secured a post-doctoral position in Alan William’s laboratory in Oxford and thereafter was able to focus on T-cell surface biology myself. Establishing, with Neil Barclay, methods for the production of large amounts of high-quality protein was essential for this. Collaborations with Shinji Ikemizu, Yvonne Jones, Dave Stuart and, in particular, Anton van der Merwe, have also been critical to our work. In 1995 I established my own laboratory in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, which I now run with Ed Evans. Our work is sponsored principally by The Wellcome Trust, the UK Medical Research Council, the Arthritis Research Campaign, and by industry.
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