PSBMB

Prof. Peter Fineran is a molecular microbiologist in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and a world expert on CRISPR-Cas systems and phage-host interactions. He leads the Phage-host interactions (Phi) laboratory, where his research explores the “arms race” between bacteria and the mobile genetic elements that infect them, with a particular focus on CRISPR-Cas adaptive immunity. His work has led to the development of phage-based antimicrobials and CRISPR-Cas biotechnology tools, which he now advances commercially as Co-Founder, Director and Chief Scientific Officer of Platypus Bio. Prof. Fineran holds a BSc (Hons) from the University of Canterbury, NZ and a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK where he also completed postdoctoral research. He is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading researchers in phage and CRISPR-Cas biology, with a body of work published in journals such as Nature, Science, PNAS, and Molecular Cell that has shaped our understanding of bacterial immune systems and phage-host dynamics. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi, has held a Alexander von Humboldt Experienced Researcher Fellowship, a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship and a James Cook Research Fellowship, and received the UK Microbiology Society’s Fleming Prize in 2019 in recognition of his significant contributions to microbiology.