We believe the more we collaborate the more we create.

Our platforms and facilities have training available for researchers outside the Crick.

Through our vibrant public programme of free events, you can explore what goes on behind the scenes at the Crick.

We are a biomedical discovery institute researching the biology underlying human health.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

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.

The talks are open to scientists from other institutes and universities from across London and beyond. You should have a minimum of graduate-level biological knowledge to attend and fully engage with these talks. Please pre-register if you would like to attend. Find out more. 

To share on social please use #cricklectures

For more information about Crick events and exhibitions for the general public please visit our What’s On pages. 

Tom Cech, Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner 1989, Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute joins us for a special Tuesday Crick lecture.

His talk takes inspiration from his recent book, The Catalyst, and encourages scientists to communicate their research to the public in a non-technical manner.

Nobel Prize 1989 

Thomas R. Cech shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman for their discovery that RNA can act as a catalyst. This groundbreaking finding challenged the long-held belief that only proteins could catalyze biochemical reactions. Cech and Altman demonstrated that RNA, a molecule previously known for its role in genetic information, could also directly participate in chemical reactions.He has also studied telomeres, and his lab discovered an enzyme, TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase), which is part of the process of restoring telomeres after they are shortened during cell division.

Biography

Tom Cech completed his PhD in chemistry at the University of California in 1975,and in the same year, he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he engaged in postdoctoral research. In 1978, he obtained his first faculty position at the University of Colorado where he lectured undergraduate students in chemistry and biochemistry, and where he remains on the faculty, currently as distinguished professor in the department of biochemistry. In 2000, Cech succeeded Purnell Choppin as President of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland. He continued to head his biochemistry laboratory at the University of Colorado, Boulder.In spring 2009 Cech stepped down as the President of HHMI, and returned to teaching and research.Returning to Boulder, Cech became the first executive director of the BioFrontiers Institute, a position he held until 2020.

His 2024 book The Catalyst has been widely commended- "from one of our foremost scientists, The Catalyst is a must-read guide to the present and future of biology and medicine" (Blackwells)

Awards

Cech's work has been recognised by many awards and prizes including: lifetime professorship by the American Cancer Society (1987), the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University (1988), the Heineken Prize of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (1988), the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (1988), the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1989, shared with Sidney Altman), the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1990] and the National Medal of Science (1995). In 1987, Cech was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences and in 1988 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.Cech was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2001. In 2003, Cech gave the University of Colorado's George Gamow Memorial Lecture. In 2007, he received the Othmer Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to progress in chemistry and science.

Join our mailing lists to receive updates about our latest research and to hear about our free public events and exhibitions.  If you would like to find out more about how we manage your personal information please see our privacy policy.

The Francis Crick Institute 1 Midland Road London NW1 1AT

+44 (0)20 3796 0000

Send us a message

View upcoming changes to normal opening times

The Francis Crick Institute Limited is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 1140062 and a company registered in England and Wales no. 06885462, with its registered office at 1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT.