Francis Atkinson
About Francis Atkinson
Francis Atkinson is a Senior Cheminformatics Research Scientist at Exscientia, with extensive experience in drug discovery and cheminformatics. He holds a Ph.D. in Synthetic Organometallic Chemistry and has worked in various roles within the pharmaceutical industry, including positions at GSK and the European Bioinformatics Institute.
Work at Exscientia
Francis Atkinson serves as a Senior Cheminformatics Research Scientist at Exscientia, a role he has held since 2022. He works remotely from home, contributing his expertise in cheminformatics to advance drug discovery processes. His position involves utilizing computational methods to support research initiatives aimed at developing new therapeutic compounds.
Education and Expertise
Francis Atkinson has a robust educational background in chemistry and related fields. He earned a B.Sc. in Chemistry with First Class Honours from the University of Bristol (1987-1990), followed by a Ph.D. in Synthetic Organometallic Chemistry from the same institution (1990-1994). He also holds an M.Sc. in Information Technology from the University of Glasgow (1995-1996) and a Diploma in Statistics from The Open University (2010-2014). His education provides a strong foundation for his extensive experience in drug discovery.
Background in Bioinformatics
Before joining Exscientia, Francis Atkinson worked at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) as a Data Mining and Analysis Specialist from 2010 to 2019. In this role, he focused on data analysis and mining within the bioinformatics domain. His experience at EMBL-EBI contributed to his knowledge in computational methods applicable to biological data.
Experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Francis Atkinson has significant experience in the pharmaceutical industry, having worked as a Computational Chemist at GSK from 1998 to 2010. He has also been involved in computational toxicology projects within academic-industrial consortia. His roles have allowed him to develop a deep understanding of drug discovery processes and cheminformatics.
Current Role at CCDC
In addition to his position at Exscientia, Francis Atkinson has been employed as a Senior Cheminformatics Data Scientist at the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) since 2019. His work at CCDC involves applying cheminformatics techniques to support crystallographic data analysis and research in the field of structural biology.