ELIXIR-UK welcomes appointment of Tony Burdett as Director of BioFAIR

ELIXIR-UK is proud to see the BioFAIR initiative, originally conceived within its community, take an important step forward with the appointment of Tony Burdett as its new Director.

Tony Burdett brings a wealth of experience to this role, including a long history of active engagement in ELIXIR. His contributions have been pivotal, particularly through his co-leadership of the ELIXIR Interoperability work stream. This background positions him to lead BioFAIR in driving innovation and advancing data infrastructure that benefits the wider life sciences community.

Tony takes the reins from Gerry Reilly, who has driven the initiative forward during its first year of inception and development as interim director. Gerry’s leadership has been instrumental in laying the foundation for BioFAIR’s future success, and ELIXIR-UK extends its gratitude for his contributions during this critical phase.

ELIXIR-UK Head of Node, Carole Goble, welcomed the announcement:
“ELIXIR-UK are delighted that Tony Burdett has been appointed as Director of BioFAIR. He has a long history of engagement in ELIXIR, including co-leadership of the ELIXIR Interoperability work stream, and we look forward to future collaborations.”

The BioFAIR initiative is poised to build a robust, FAIR-enabled infrastructure to support biological and biomedical research, ensuring that data is accessible and reusable for scientists across disciplines. By fostering collaboration and aligning efforts with ELIXIR’s existing programmes, BioFAIR represents a significant opportunity to accelerate the development of data-driven life science research.

ELIXIR-UK is excited to see BioFAIR take shape and looks forward to continued partnerships that will further enhance the national adoption of FAIR principles and resources.