Professor Richard Reece is the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Education and Student Experience and Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Kent. He read biochemistry at The University of Leeds and did his PhD work, studying the mechanism of action of a class of bacterial enzymes called DNA topoisomerases, at the University of Leicester. Upon completion of his PhD, he spent five years undertaking post-doctoral work at Harvard University, before returning to the UK as a lecturer, senior lecturer and then professor at The University of Manchester. He moved to the University of Kent in 2020 to take up the role of Deputy Vice Chancellor.

Richard oversees the Education and Student Experience Strategy at Kent, which underpins one of the three key strategic objectives in the University Plan and looks after two large directorates - Education and Student Services. He joined the University Council as a member in August 2020 and serves as the Chair of the Board of KMTV. He chairs the University’s Sustainability Steering Group who are responsible for implementation of sustainability across the university. 

Richard’s research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms by which cells are able to alter their patterns of gene expression in response to metabolic changes in the environment. This work has involved a mixture of molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics and structural biology. He is deeply committed to raising the standards of teaching quality across higher education - both in the UK and across the world - and to promoting the public understanding of science. 

Nigel received his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Leeds in 1987. He was then awarded a Mr and Mrs John Jaffé Donation Research Fellowship from the Royal Society to work on the proteolysis and membrane anchorage of mammalian cell surface peptidases. In 1989 he was appointed as lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry at Leeds, followed by promotions to senior lecturer, reader and in 2001 to Professor of Biochemistry. He served as Director of the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology (2007-2011), Pro-Dean for Research (2011) and Dean (2012-2014) of the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Leeds.

In 2014 he was appointed to the Chair in Cell Biology in the Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences at the University of Manchester. He has held roles as Vice Dean for Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (2016-2020) and Director of Dementia Research for the University (2015-2020). Since 2020 he has been Associate Vice-President for Research

Sonia Rocha is originally from the north of Portugal, where she obtained her undergraduate degree in Biology from Porto University, Portugal. After a year out doing a collaborative research project between Porto University and Uppsala University in Sweden, she started her PhD at the ETH-Zurich, Switzerland, working in mechanisms of ionizing radiation induced apoptosis. After completion, she then moved to the University of Dundee in Scotland to conduct postdoctoral research at the Department of Biochemistry, working on the crosstalk of tumour suppressors with NF-kappaB transcription factor family. 

In November 2005, Sonia was appointed as Tenure Track Principal Investigator in the College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, on a RCUK fellowship, starting her work on the field of hypoxia research. In 2010, was awarded Tenure and in 2011 she received a Cancer Research-UK Senior Research Fellowship. In 2012, she became deputy director of the Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression. In 2013, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and in 2014 was promoted to Reader and 2016 to full Professor.

In 2017, she moved to the University of Liverpool, as Head of the department of Biochemistry. In May 2020, she became Executive Dean for the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology at the University of Liverpool, until December 2024. She was part of the UoA5 Biological Sciences REF2021 panel, and now REF2029 UoA5 panel. In 2024 she received the Biochemical Society Sir Philip Randle Lecture prize 2025. She is actively involved in teaching undergraduate and post-graduate students, as well in public engagement events. She serves on the scientific committees of several funding bodies (UKRI and Welcome, Finland, Poland, Ireland, Norway, Belgium) and also acts as an academic advisor or editor for several journals. From January 2026, she is the honorary treasurer for the Biochemical Society.