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The Crick magazine, spring 2026

Burt and Marion Avery Family Professor of Immunology

Crick Lectures are delivered by leading internationally-renowned scientists from the Francis Crick Institute and elsewhere and cover the full spectrum of biomedical research. They aim to be relatively accessible to scientists in all biomedical disciplines, whilst also offering something for the specialist.

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Mark Davis earned a BA in Molecular Biology (1974) from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in Molecular Biology (1981) from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he cloned the first ever mouse genomic library. For his postdoc, Mark moved to Bill Paul's lab at NIH, where he used pulse field gel technology to discover the delta chain of T-cell receptors. Recognising that T-cell receptors were vitally important for immunology, Mark, the only molecular biologist in his department, began his work on T-cell receptors, work that continues today.

Mark is best known for identifying and cloning the first T cell receptor (TCR) genes, a landmark discovery that revealed how T cells recognise foreign molecules and transformed modern immunology. His laboratory subsequently made several important advances in understanding T cell biology, including showing that T cells can respond to extremely small numbers of antigen molecules and developing methods to track antigen-specific T cells in humans. These discoveries have had major implications for vaccine development, cancer immunotherapy and autoimmune disease research.

Today, the Davis laboratory focuses on understanding the human immune system, particularly how T and B lymphocytes recognise antigens, how immune responses develop during infection and vaccination, and how new technologies can be used to study human immunity in health and disease.

Among Mark's many honours are the Canada Gairdner International Award, King Faisal Prize, William B. Coley Award, Paul Ehrlich Prize, and election to the US National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the Royal Society.

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