Professor John Carr

John Carr is Head of Virology and Molecular Plant Pathology at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.

Biography

John Carr is Professor of Plant Virology at Cambridge University's Department of Plant Sciences. His research interests include viral subversion of plant resistance, viral gene expression, plant-virus-insect vector interactions, the effects of virus infection on interactions of plants with beneficial insects such as pollinators, and the occasional mutualistic effects of viruses on their hosts. He has also done work on resistance against bacterial and fungal plant pathogens. Over the years Carr has also collaborated on practical aspects of plant virology with colleagues in eastern, central and western Africa, particularly on insect-vectored viruses. 

Previous Positions 

1989 to 1993 - Senior Research Associate under advisor Professor Milton Zaitlin - Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

1985 to 1989 - Postdoctoral Fellow under advisor Professor Daniel F. Klessig - Waksman Institute of Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA

1984 to 1985 - Postdoctoral Fellow under advisor Professor Daniel F. Klessig - Department of Cellular, Viral and Molecular Biology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Qualifications 

2023 - ScD - University of Cambridge, England

1984 - PhD in Biochemistry - University of Liverpool, England

1980 - BSc in Biochemistry - University of Liverpool, England

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Awards & Fellowships

2026 - Honory Member - British Society for Plant Pathology 

2021 - Fellow - Linnean Society

2021 - Fellow - Royal Society of Biology

Committees

2026 to 2028 - President - The Cambridge Philosophical Society

Media

2025 - 'Comment interview for CNN on coverage of article on chemiluminescent plants' - by Issy Ronald, CNN London Bureau

2024 - 'Scientists concoct incense from ancient recipe' - BBC Cambridgeshire News