Bolton School Old Boy delivers 50th Tillotson Lecture

Professor Robin Ali, of the class of 1984, has delivered a personal perspective on his career as an academic in the field of biotechnology and on what lies ahead with healthcare at the school's 50th Tillotson Lecure.

The annual lecture has attracted eminent speakers over the years, many of them "Old Boys" who have delivered thought-provoking addresses to the school community.

Dating back to 1971, the Tillotson Lecture was inaugurated and supported by the late Marcus Tillotson, himself influential at The Bolton News.

Prof Ali, now a professor of human molecular genetics at King’s College London, said it was a pleasure and honour to be invited back to Bolton School and that he was delighted to see that it is “still a great educational environment”.

After visits to biology and design tech classes at the Boy’s Division and a tour of the campus, earlier in the day, Prof Ali took to the stage to discus his fond memories of his time at the school from 1976 to 1984.

A spokesperson for the school said: “He said, rather modestly, that in 2003, when he became the youngest professor of molecular genetics at UCL, it was a rapidly moving field and it was more down to being in the right place at the right time than his own brilliance.

Tillotson Lecture (Image: Bolton School)

“He also told how, two years ago, he moved across to King’s College London to head up a centre for advanced therapies.

“While the centre has many academic teams. He said his main focus is, and has been for 30 years or so, on advanced gene cell therapies for the treatment of eye diseases, particularly inherited retinal disorders.”

Prof Ali gave the audience an overview of biotechnology from 1970 from the first isolation of restriction enzymes in bacteria, to his latest projects at King’s where his team is working on developing a range of gene and stem cell therapies.

He then went on to field a range of questions.

The school spokesperson added: “Answering a question about what advice he would give to the students in the audience, he advised following your passions and interests, seeing things through, having patience and perseverance and to only work on things that are really worth working on.”

The focus of Prof Ali’s research is the development of gene and cell therapy for the treatment of retinal disorders. He has published more than 200 scientific papers and established the world’s first clinical trial of gene therapy for retinopathy.

He and his team have won numerous international prizes for their work, including the €1m Champalimaud Vison Award.

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