Alkis Seraphim Lecture 2025: Professor Ben Lehner

Ben Lehner is Head of Generative and Synthetic Genomics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge and an ICREA Professor at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona.

His research is currently focussed on using massively parallel synthesis/selection/sequencing experiments and machine learning to quantify, understand and predict sequence-to-activity (especially the biophysical properties of macromolecules) at scale, including protein stability, aggregation, affinity, specificity, allostery, and mRNA splicing and regulation. Previous research has addressed foundational questions in genetics, including why genetically-identical individuals are not identical, how the physiology and environment of one generation alters subsequent generations, why mutations occur at different rates in different genes, and how mutations interact to alter the activities of molecules and the characteristics of individuals.

His research has been recognised by multiple prizes, including the Bettencourt Prize for Life Sciences, the Eppendorf Award, the Balfour Prize, and the EMBO Gold Medal. Ben is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society.