Groundbreaking professor Sir Chris Dobson, aged 69

A professor whose groundbreaking work helped to advance the understanding of conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s has died at the age of 69.

Sir Chris Dobson, who was knighted last year, has been described as a “giant in the field of protein chemistry” after his death from pancreatic cancer earlier this month.

Sir Chris had worked at Cambridge University since 2001, and was the first to describe how proteins misfold into fibrils which cause degenerative illnesses.

He developed equations to describe the kinetics of this process, which advanced the understanding of the toxic aggregates responsible for conditions including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and frontotemporal dementia.

Sara Linse at Lund University, Sweden, said: “His findings have changed the way we think in this field.”

And colleagues described the “visionary” as “an inspiration to a whole generation of scientists”.

Born in Rinteln, in Lower Saxony, Germany, the scientist had his roots in Yorkshire.

His parents, Arthur and Mabel, grew up in Bradford, and both left school without qualifications.

Sir Chris was educated at Hereford Cathedral Junior School, and then Abingdon School from 1960 until 1967. He completed a bachelor of arts at Oxford University.

In 2013, he co-founded the Cambridge Centre for Misfolding Diseases and, in 2016, helped establish the start-up Wren Therapeutics to develop treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

He said he was “truly humbled” to have been knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

“It would not have been possible without the brilliance and dedication of my students and scientific colleagues over many years, whose commitment to improving the lives of those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions is deeply impressive,” he added.

Posting on an online forum dedicated to Alzheimer’s research, Ulrich Hartl said: “Chris was an innovator.

“Besides being an exceptional scientist, he was also a passionate mentor.”

Mr Hartl added: “He had a warm and generous personality. Chris was a remarkable person, a true English gentleman.”

Sir Chris Dobson helped to advance understanding of Alzheimer’s.