Sir Colin Blakemore

Professor

Sir Colin Blakemore is Professor of Neuroscience at City University of Hong Kong. He worked in the medical schools of Cambridge and Oxford for more than 40 years and from 2003-7 he was Chief Executive of the UK Medical Research Council. From 2012-18 he was Professor of Neuroscience and Philosophy at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, before he moved to Hong Kong last. His research has focused on vision, development and plasticity of the brain, and on neurodegenerative disease. Colin has been President of the British Science Association, the British Neuroscience Association, the Physiological Society and the Royal Society of Biology. He is a member of 12 scientific academies, including the Royal Society and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and his honours include both the Faraday Prize and the Ferrier Prize from the Royal Society. He has been widely involved in scientific advice to government and he is deeply committed to public communication about science.

Education:

University of California, Berkeley

PhD Physiological Optics

1965 – 1968



University of Cambridge

BA, MA, ScD Medical Sciences

1962 – 1965

Experience:

City University of Hong Kong

Yeung Kin Man Chair Professor of Neuroscience

Mar 2019 – Present



Magdalen College, University of Oxford

Emeritus Fellow

Oct 2012 – Present

Fellow

1979 – Oct 2012



University of Oxford

Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience

Oct 2012 – Present

Professor of Neuroscience

Oct 2007 – Oct 2012

Professor of Neuroscience

Jul 2007 – Sep 2012

Waynflete Professor of Physiology

Oct 1979 – Jul 2007



Grete Lundbeck's European Brain Research Prize Foundation

Chairman, Selection Committee for The Brain Prize

Mar 2010 – Present



University of Warwick

Honorary Professor

Oct 2010 – Present

Professor of Neuroscience

Oct 2007 – Oct 2010



Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School

Professor of Neuroscience

2008 – Present



Association of British Science Writers

Honorary President

2004 – Present



European Dana Alliance for the Brain

Vice-Chairman

1996 – Present



Sense about Science

Member of Advisory Council

2002 – Present



Technology Development Committee, Abu Dhabi

Science & Technology Advisor

Jan 2010 – Present



School of Advanced Study, University of London

Professor of Neuroscience and Philosophy

Oct 2012 – Jan 2018



UK Drug Policy Commission

Commissioner

2006 – 2013



A*STAR

Chairman, Neuroscience Research Partnership

Oct 2007 – Oct 2010



BTG

Non Executive Director

BTG

Oct 2007 – Oct 2010



Understanding Animal Research

Chairman

2008 – 2009



Medical Research Council

Chief Executive

Medical Research Council

2003 – 2007



British Science Association

Chairman of Council

2001 – 2003



Physiological Society

President

2001 – 2003

Awards:



Ferrier Medal and Lecture

On 'Plasticity of the brain: the key to human development, cognition and evolution'.



Michael Faraday Prize and Lecture

For his written, broadcast and public presentations on the science of the brain, which are superbly crafted for lay and expert audiences alike.

Summary of research interests and expertise:



Professor Sir Blakemore, FMedSci, FRS, was appointed Director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses at the Institute of Philosophy in October 2012. He is one of Britain's leading scientists. He is a renowned expert on vision, and on the development and plasticity of the brain. He speaks and advises on a number of public issues, including chairing the Royal Society’s recent Brain Waves project, reviewing the policy implications of developments in neuroscience, which included reports on Neuroscience and Education and Neuroscience and the Law. Colin Blakemore is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was a previous Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council. He has been a Reith Lecturer and given the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. He has been honoured by many countries, including India and China, and has ten honorary degrees. Colin was Principal investigator on the 'Rethinking the Senses' project, supported by a £2million grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of their Science in Culture programme. In addition, in 2013, he established 'The Human Mind Project', an international effort to define the major intellectual challenges in understanding the nature and significance of the human mind, linking work in the humanities and the sciences, especially cognitive neuroscience. Since 2019, he has been Yeung Kin Man Chair Professor of Neuroscience at City University of Hong Kong, and a Senior Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study.

Selected Publications:



- LYNALL, M-E. & BLAKEMORE, C. (2013) What synaesthesia isn’t. In The Oxford Handbook of Synaesthesia, ed. Simner, J. & Hubbard, E. Oxford, Oxford University Press (in the press)

- NICCOLAI, V., van LEEUWEN, T.M., BLAKEMORE, C. & STOERIG, P. (2012) Synaesthetic perception of colour and visual space in a blind subject: an fMRI case study. Consciousness and Cognition 21: 889-899.

- BLAKEMORE. C., MACARTHUR CLARK, J., NEVALAINEN, T, OBERDORFER, M & SUSSMAN, A. (2012) Implementing the 3Rs in neuroscience research: a reasoned approach. Neuron 75: 948-950.

- BLAKEMORE, C. (2010) Cognition, computation and consciousness. In Science Sees Further, Royal Society, London, 14-15.

- LIANG, M., THILO, K. & BLAKEMORE, C. (2009) Temporal dynamics of visual-tactile crossmodal interaction: an ERP study. NeuroImage 47: 39-41.

- VAN DELLEN, A., CORDERY, P.M., SPIRES, T.L., BLAKEMORE., C. & HANNAN, A.J. (2008) Wheel running from a juvenile age delays onset of specific motor deficits but does not alter protein aggregate density in a mouse model of Huntington’s disease. BMC Neuroscience 9: 34.

- BESTMANN, S., RUFF, C.S., BLAKEMORE, C., DRIVER, J & THILO, K.V. (2007) Spatial attention changes excitability of human visual cortex to direct stimulation. Current Biol. 17: 134-9.

- BYSTRON, I., RAKIC, P., MOLNÁR, Z. & BLAKEMORE, C. (2006) The first neurons of the human cerebral cortex. Nature Neuroscience 9: 880-6.

- GOYAL, M.S., HANSEN, P. & BLAKEMORE, C. (2006) Tactile perception recruits functionally related visual areas in the late-blind. Neuroreport 17: 1381-4.

- KEMP, M. & BLAKEMORE, C. (2006) Hearing colours, seeing sounds. Wassily Kandinsky’s synaesthetic paintings go on show in London.  Nature 442: 514.

- STEVEN, M.S., HANSEN, P.C. & BLAKEMORE, C. (2006) Activation of color-selective areas of visual cortex in a blind synesthete. Cortex 42: 304-8.

- BLAKEMORE, C. (2005) In celebration of cerebration. Lancet 366: 2035-57.

- STEVEN, M.S. & BLAKEMORE, C. (2004) Visual synaesthesia in the blind. Perception 33: 855-868.

- THILO, K.V., SANTORO, L., WALSH, V. & BLAKEMORE, C. (2004) The site of saccadic suppression. Nature Neurosci. 7: 13-14.

- SANTORO, L., HANSEN, P. & BLAKEMORE, C. (2003) Object motion, with or without retinal motion, activates human cortical area MT+.  J. Physiol. 548P: O74.