Azim Surani

Azim Surani
CBE FRS FMedSci
Born1945 (age 80–81)
Kisumu, Kenya
EducationPlymouth University (BSc)
University of Strathclyde (MSc)
University of Cambridge (PhD)
AwardsGabor Medal (2001)
Royal Medal (2010)
Mendel Lectures (2010)
Gairdner Foundation International Award (2018)
Mendel Medal (2022)
Kyoto Prize (2025)
Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (2026)
Scientific career
WorkplacesUniversity of Cambridge
ThesisModulation of Implanting Rat Blastocysts to Macromolecular Secretions of the Uterus (1975)
Robert Edwards
Doctoral students
Kat Arney
Other notable students
Anne Ferguson-Smith (postdoc)
Websitewww.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/research/surani

Azim Surani (born 1945 in Kisumu, Kenya) is a Kenyan-British developmental biologist who has been Marshall–Walton Professor at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge since 1992, and Director of Germline and Epigenomics Research since 2013.

Education

Surani was educated at Plymouth University (BSc),[when?] the University of Strathclyde (MSc) and the University of Cambridge (PhD) where his research was supervised by Robert Edwards, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Career and research

Surani co-discovered mammalian genomic imprinting with Davor Solter in 1984, and subsequently examined its mechanism and the functions of imprinted genes. He later established the genetic basis for germ cell specification, using a single-cell analysis in mice. This genetic network also initiates the unique resetting of the germline epigenome, including comprehensive erasure of DNA methylation towards re-establishing full genomic potency. Epigenetic modifications and re-establishments of imprints then generate functional differences between parental genomes whilst aberrant imprints contribute to human disease.

Surani's research is identifying key regulators of human germ line development and epigenome reprogramming, revealing differences between humans and mice attributable to their divergent pluripotent states and early postimplantation development. He is also investigating transposable elements, host defence mechanisms, noncoding RNAs, and the potential for transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in mammals.

Awards and honours

Azim Surani in 2026, talking on his 2025 Kyoto Prize in Oxford

Surani has received several awards for his work including the Royal Medal (2010), the Gabor Medal (2001) and the Mendel Lectures (2010).[citation needed] He received the Canada Gairdner International Award, with Davor Solter, "For the discovery of mammalian genomic imprinting that causes parent-of-origin specific gene expression and its consequences for development and disease." He won the Rosenstiel Award in 2006, with Solter and Mary Lyon, for "pioneering work on epigenetic gene regulation in mammalian embryos". In 2025 he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in the category "Life Sciences". In 2026 he was awarded the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, together with Davor Solter.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Professor Azim Surani". royalsociety.org. London: Royal Society. 1990. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
    "All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." --"Terms, conditions and policies | Royal Society". Archived from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ↑ Arney, Katharine Luisa (2002). Epigenetic modification in the mouse zygote and regulation of imprinted genes (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC 894595629.
  3. ↑ Ferguson-Smith, A. C.; Cattanach, B. M.; Barton, S. C.; Beechey, C. V.; Surani, M. A. (1991). "Embryological and molecular investigations of parental imprinting on mouse chromosome 7". Nature. 351 (6328): 667–670. Bibcode:1991Natur.351..667F. doi:10.1038/351667a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 2052093. S2CID 4233463. Closed access icon
  4. ↑ Azim Surani publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  5. ↑ "Azim Surani — The Gurdon Institute". Gurdon.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 McFarlane, Alan (2009). "Azim Surani interviewed by Alan Macfarlane". alanmacfarlane.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Surani, M. A. H. (1975). Modulation of Implanting Rat Blastocysts to Macromolecular Secretions of the Uterus. ethos.bl.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC 500574338.
  8. ↑ Anne C. Ferguson-Smith; Deborah Bourc'his (2018). "The discovery and importance of genomic imprinting". eLife. 7 e42368. doi:10.7554/eLife.42368. PMC 6197852. PMID 30343680.
  9. ↑ "Gairdner Awards 2018 Laureates | Gairdner Foundation". Gairdner Foundation. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  10. ↑ "Past Winners". Brandeis University. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  11. ↑ Kyoto Prize 2025
  12. ↑ Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2026