Stephen Busby

Stephen Busby FRS^[1][2] is a British biochemist, and professor at the University of Birmingham.^[3] His research is concerned with the molecular mechanisms controlling gene expression in bacteria, especially regulation of transcription initiation in Escherichia coli.

Stephen Busby FRS
Education	University of Cambridge (B.A. 1972), University of Oxford (D.Phil. 1975)
Known for	Molecular mechanisms controlling gene expression in bacteria
Scientific career
Fields	Biochemistry
Institutions	Pasteur Institute, University of Birmingham
Doctoral advisor	George Radda
Other academic advisors	Rex Richards

Career

Stephen Busby started his career working for several years at the Pasteur Institute in Paris,^[4] where he remained until moving to the University of Birmingham in 1983.

After obtaining his doctorate at Oxford, he worked in the laboratory of George Radda, in collaboration with Rex Richards, on nuclear magnetic resonance of metabolites.^[5] Subsequently his interest moved towards reguatory mechanisms and transcription in bacteria,^[6] participating in making recommendations about transctiption initiation,^[7] and developing new methods for studying recombinant protein production.^[8]

Administrative activities

Busby was appointed as Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham in 1995 and was Dean of Science and then Life & Health Science from 2000 to 2004. He was Head of the School of Biosciences from 2012 to 2016. Over much of the same period he was vice-chair and then chair of the Biochemical Society (2011–2016). Busby has continued to serve as Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham, taking on a variety of roles, including acting head of Biosciences in 2025.