Dr. John Lackie

- a brief biography
   
John read Natural Sciences at Cambridge (St Catharine's College, 1966-69) specialising in Zoology in his final year, and then did his doctorate at the Molteno Institute of Parasitology - although he spent most of the final year working in the Department of Cell Biology, University of Glasgow. Returning to Cambridge to a Research Fellowship at Trinity Hall, he spent three years as Eastwood Memorial Visiting Scientist at the Strangeways Research Laboratory and then in 1975 took up a lectureship in Cell Biology at the University of Glasgow where he stayed until 1990. During this period he
  • Ran an active research group on cellular aspects of inflammation and vascular biology with research funding from MRC, Wellcome, British Diabetic Association and other charities.
  • Taught a wide range of undergraduate courses to students doing Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Developmental Biology, Immunology and Experimental Pathology.
  • Administered a number of courses and developed a new course in Biology of Cells
  • Wrote a book based on a final year module (Cell Movement & Cell Behaviour Allen & Unwin: 1986) and co-ordinated the production of the Dictionary of Cell Biology (the 3rd Edition was renamed the Dictionary of Cell & Molecular Biology
  • Was Honorary Lecturer at the University of Liverpool
  • Organised conferences and was active on committees of the Society for Experimental Biology and the British Society for Cell Biology.
In 1990 he was head-hunted to set up a discovery research unit to find new targets for anti-inflammatory drugs for Yamanouchi, one of Japan's largest pharmaceutical companies that was intent upon globalising its activities and becoming more focussed on discovery research. Over the course of the next 10 years he:
  • Established the Yamanouchi Research Institute in Oxford, organising the refurbishment of space at the Littlemore Hospital to produce laboratories and offices and recruiting a unit of 50 people
  • Raised Yamanouchi's profile locally and in the UK's biomedical research community
  • Co-ordinated inflammation research within Yamanouchi, bringing together the research groups in Japan, the Netherlands and Oxford.
  • Held a Supernumerary Fellowship at Wolfson College, Oxford and continued to do a small amount of teaching in both Oxford and Glasgow
  • Organised conferences, including the 4th Abercrombie Conference on Cell Behaviour (Biochemical Society Symposium No. 65)
  • Was a member of the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry's R&D Committee
  • Carried out Subject Specialist Reviews (in Molecular Biosciences) for the Quality Assurance Agency
  • Was responsible for selecting research groups to be funded by the Yamanouchi European Foundation
Yamanouchi then offered John the post of Vice President R&D Strategy - which included the responsibility for exploring potential collaborations in Europe and North America which he did for the whole of 2000 before resigning to take up the post of Principal & Chief Executive of the Westlakes Research Institute in Cumbria. In this dual academic and commercial role he:
  • Focussed the Institute on Applied Environmental Science and Healthcare Informatics
  • Oversaw the development of postgraduate-level programmes in these two areas accredited variously by the Universities of Newcastle, Manchester and Lancaster.
  • Was active in promoting West Cumbria as the preferred location for the Headquarters of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, in particular through championing the idea of a National Nuclear Academy in response to DTI's strong interest in the skills base for the industry. This involved liaison with DTI, NWDA, Cogent, and a range of training providers and employers.
  • Was a member of the External Advisory Board for Manchester University's Dalton Project (Nuclear Skills).
  • Developed the concept of a Centre for Environmental Restoration to be based within a Research Hotel on the Westlakes Science & Technology Park.
  • Established the Technology Access Portal to assist small businesses with finding solutions to technical problems (this evolved into the 'Enabling Innovation in Cumbrian SMEs' project)
  • Initiated the annual Innovation Symposium at Westlakes and was involved in running the 1st Westlakes International Conference on Nuclear Decommissioning (which focussed on 'Skills for the Industry' and on 'Environmental Endpoints')
  • Was a member of the RAE 2001 Biological Sciences Panel
  • Remained a member of the Biochemical Society's Professional & Education Committee.
In 2004 John established Plumbland Consulting Ltd, in partnership with Ann, to concentrate upon science policy, science communication, research strategy, Higher Education and Training and other academic issues.
He is Editor in Chief for the next edition of Chamber’s Dictionary of Science & Technology and has advised several Institutions on their RAE2008 strategy. He is also on the Governing Body and Academic Committee of Lakes College West Cumbria.