Neil Hall

Prof Neil Hall is the Director of the Earlham Institute and Co-Lead of ELIXIR-UK.

Research interests

Neil's research at the Earlham Institute focuses on comparative and evolutionary genomics in pathogens, studying how microbes evolve and interact with hosts to better understand pathogen emergence and adaptation.

His research group currently focuses on:

• fungal pathogens such as Gaeumannomyces tritici, which causes the devastating wheat root disease Take-All
• using crop and wild crop relatives to understand host-pathogens reservoirs
• eukaryotic microbial diversity in soil and water ecosystems

As Co-Head of Node of ELIXIR-UK - the national Node of the European infrastructure for bioscience data - he is passionate about FAIR data and open science, advocating for greater standards and data sharing to realise the full potential of AI and data-intensive biology.

Background

Prof Hall has worked in the field of genomics and data science for over 20 years. His previous roles include leading The Centre for Genomic Research at the University of Liverpool, and research groups at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in the United States.

His previous research focused on the virulence and health implications of parasitic protists including Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma brucei, and Trypanosomiasis which causes the African Sleeping Sickness.

While at the University of Liverpool, Prof Hall led research efforts to decode the genetic code of wheat to help crop breeders increase yield and produce varieties that are better suited to a changing environment.

Prof Hall holds a PhD in Genetics, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB).