Jason is the Head of Sequencing Chemistry for Illumina. He and his group are responsible for the Research and Development of all new versions of the chemistry that is used in all of Illumina’s DNA sequencing machines. The chemistry that is used was originally invented 25 years ago in Cambridge, and has continued to be so ever since. 

Jason joined Illumina in 2009, and in the 15 years since has grown to have overall responsibility for all of our sequencing chemistry. Approximately 50 chemists and biochemists work in his team, who are drawn from many countries around the world. This team are currently working on new and improved versions of the technology which will be launched in new systems over the next 7 years.

Jason received his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Southampton, before completing his Ph.D. at the University of Sheffield. Prior to joining Illumina, he spent more than a decade in other biotechnology companies, latterly at Smiths Industries designing systems to detect biowarfare agents.