Christopher Price
Pro-Chancellor, distinguished friends, colleagues, graduands and guests.
Professor Christopher Price is a leading figure in the field of clinical biochemistry education and research, recognized nationally and internationally for his contributions to the advancement of knowledge in this field.
Born in 1945, he gained a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Physiology from Coventry in 1967, after which he began his training as a clinical biochemist at the Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital. He continued to study, gaining his PhD in clinical biochemistry from the University of Birmingham in 1972.
In 1976 he took up the post of Consultant Clinical Biochemist in Southampton, and then in 1980 he moved to a similar position at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. In 1988, he became Professor of Clinical Biochemistry at the London Hospital Medical College, which in 1995 became part of the St. Bartholomew’s and Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry. During this period he was also Director of Pathology for the Royal Hospitals NHS Trust. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1982 and as a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in 1989. From 1988 to 2001 he was Professor of Clinical Biochemistry.
Dr Price’s research group developed the first commercial enzymatic methods for acetaminophen, salicylate, and phenylalanine. His research spans both basic and applied fields, predominantly in the areas of enzymology, bone disease, immunoassay technology, point-of-care testing, and evidence-based laboratory medicine. He has published eight books and over three hundred papers and reviews, and also holds several patents.
He is well recognized internationally for his work in clinical biochemistry and has been a member of the Scientific Division of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, a member of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, and a member of the Editorial Board of Clinical Chemistry and of the Oak Ridge Conference Organizing Committee.
Since 2002 he has been a Visiting Professor in Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Oxford and has recently joined the team in the Oxford Centre for Monitoring and Diagnosis in Primary Care (MaDOx), a research programme funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and based in the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford.
In 2009 he was appointed as Clinical Lead for the Cumbria and Lancashire Pathology Commissioning Network, a post he held for two years until 2011.
Christopher Price has received two awards from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry: the award for Outstanding Contribution in Education in 1998, and the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine in 2009.
In recognition of his outstanding contribution to Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Coventry University, by decision of the Academic Board, has the privilege of conferring the Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, on Christopher Price.