{{Short description|British computational biologist}} {{for|the politician|Dick Durbin}} {{Use British English|date=August 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Richard Durbin | birth_name = Richard Michael Durbin | image = Richard Durbin, Wellcome-Sanger, Cambridge, UK (2698443141).jpg | image_size = | alt = | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|size=100}} | caption = Durbin in 2008 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1960|12|30}}<ref name="whoswho">{{Who's Who|author=Anon | title=Durbin, Richard Michael | id = U45024 | year = 2016|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U45024 | edition = online edition via Oxford University Press}} </ref> | birth_place = | residence = | citizenship = | fields = {{Plainlist| * Genomics * Bioinformatics * Human genetics * Computational biology * Genome evolution<ref name="googlescholar"/>}} | workplaces = {{Plainlist| * University of Cambridge * Laboratory of Molecular Biology * Stanford University * Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute * King's College, Cambridge}} |education= Highgate School | alma_mater = St John's College, Cambridge (BA, PhD) | thesis_title = Studies on the development and organisation of the nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans | thesis_url = https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.233920 | thesis_year = 1987 | doctoral_advisor = John G. White<ref name="durbinphd"/> | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = Ewan Birney<ref name="birneyphd">{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|first=Ewan |last=Birney|author-link=Ewan Birney|title=Sequence alignment in bioinformatics|publisher=University of Cambridge|year=2000|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.621653}}|url=https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/permalink/f/t9gok8/44CAM_ALMA21432449480003606|website=cam.ac.uk|oclc=894597337}}</ref> | notable_students ={{Plainlist| * Sean Eddy<ref>{{Cite journal | pmid = 7497123 | year = 1995 | last1 = Eddy | first1 = S. R. | title = Maximum discrimination hidden Markov models of sequence consensus | journal = Journal of Computational Biology | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | pages = 9–23 | last2 = Mitchison | first2 = G | last3 = Durbin | first3 = R | doi=10.1089/cmb.1995.2.9 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | pmid = 8029015 | pmc = 308124 | year = 1994 | last1 = Eddy | first1 = S. R. | title = RNA sequence analysis using covariance models | journal = Nucleic Acids Research | volume = 22 | issue = 11 | pages = 2079–88 | last2 = Durbin | first2 = R | doi=10.1093/nar/22.11.2079 }}</ref> * Heng Li<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Li | first1 = H. | author-link1 = Heng Li | last2 = Durbin | first2 = R. | author-link2 = Richard M. Durbin | doi = 10.1093/bioinformatics/btp324 | title = Fast and accurate short read alignment with Burrows–Wheeler transform | journal = Bioinformatics | volume = 25 | issue = 14 | pages = 1754–1760 | year = 2009 | pmid = 19451168 | pmc =2705234 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Li | first1 = H. | author-link1 = Heng Li | last2 = Ruan | first2 = J. | last3 = Durbin | first3 = R. | author-link3 = Richard M. Durbin | doi = 10.1101/gr.078212.108 | title = Mapping short DNA sequencing reads and calling variants using mapping quality scores | journal = Genome Research | volume = 18 | issue = 11 | pages = 1851–1858 | year = 2008 | pmid = 18714091 | pmc =2577856 }}</ref><ref name="pmid16381935"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Heng Li Credits Durbin Pedigree in Accepting Franklin Award|url=http://www.bio-itworld.com/news/04/26/12/Heng-Li-credits-Durbin-pedigree-Franklin-Award.html|publisher=bio-itworld.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227032038/http://www.bio-itworld.com/news/04/26/12/Heng-Li-credits-Durbin-pedigree-Franklin-Award.html|archive-date=2013-02-27}}</ref> * Alex Bateman<ref>{{Cite journal | first1 = A. | last1 = Bateman | author-link1 = Alex Bateman | first2 = L. | last2 = Coin | first3 = R. | last3 = Durbin | author-link3 = Richard M. Durbin | first4 = R. D. | last4 = Finn | first5 = V. | last5 = Hollich | first6 = S. | last6 = Griffiths-Jones | first7 = A. | last7 = Khanna | first8 = M. | last8 = Marshall | first9 = S. | last10 = Sonnhammer | last9 = Moxon | first10 = E. L. | last11 = Studholme | first11 = D. J. | last12 = Yeats | first12 = C. | last13 = Eddy | first13 = S. R. | author-link13 = Sean Eddy | title = The Pfam protein families database | journal = Nucleic Acids Research | volume = 32 | issue = Database issue | pages = 138D–1141 | year=2004 | issn = 0305-1048 | pmid = 14681378 | doi = 10.1093/nar/gkh121 | pmc = 308855 }} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Bateman | first1 = A. | author-link1 = Alex Bateman | last2 = Birney | first2 = E. | author-link2 = Ewan Birney | last3 = Cerruti | first3 = L. | last4 = Durbin | first4 = R. | author-link4 = Richard M. Durbin | last5 = Etwiller | first5 = L. | last6 = Eddy | first6 = S. | author-link6 = Sean Eddy | last7 = Griffiths-Jones | first7 = S. | last8 = Howe | first8 = K. | last9 = Marshall | first9 = M. | last10 = Sonnhammer | first10 = E. L. | title = The Pfam protein families database | journal = Nucleic Acids Research | volume = 30 | issue = 1 | pages = 276–280 | year = 2002 | pmid = 11752314 | pmc = 99071 | doi=10.1093/nar/30.1.276 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | pmid = 10592242 | pmc = 102420 | year = 2000 | last1 = Bateman | first1 = A | title = The Pfam protein families database | journal = Nucleic Acids Research | volume = 28 | issue = 1 | pages = 263–6 | last2 = Birney | first2 = E | last3 = Durbin | first3 = R | last4 = Eddy | first4 = S. R. | last5 = Howe | first5 = K. L. | last6 = Sonnhammer | first6 = E. L. | doi=10.1093/nar/28.1.263 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Bateman | first1 = A. | last2 = Birney | first2 = E. | author-link2 = Ewan Birney | last3 = Durbin | first3 = R. | author-link3 = Richard M. Durbin | last4 = Eddy | first4 = S. | author-link4 = Sean Eddy | last5 = Finn | first5 = R. | last6 = Sonnhammer | first6 = E. | title = Pfam 3.1: 1313 multiple alignments and profile HMMs match the majority of proteins | journal = Nucleic Acids Research | volume = 27 | issue = 1 | pages = 260–262 | year = 1999 | pmid = 9847196 | pmc = 148151 | doi=10.1093/nar/27.1.260 }}</ref> * (postdocs)}} | known_for = {{Plainlist| * ''Biological Sequence Analysis''<ref name="durbin98"/>}} | influences = | influenced = | awards = {{Plainlist| * Mullard Award (1994) * EMBO Member (2009)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biochemist.org/society/page.htm?item=37150|title=EMBO welcomes 66 leading life scientists as members|website=biochemist.org}}</ref> * Gabor Medal (2017)}} | signature = <!--(filename only)--> | website = {{Official URL}} | signature_alt = | footnotes = | spouse = {{marriage|Julie Ahringer|1996}}<ref name="whoswho"/> }} '''Richard Michael Durbin''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS}}<ref name=royale/> (born 1960)<ref name="whoswho"/> is a British computational biologist<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sanger.ac.uk/people/directory/durbin-richard|title=Durbin, Richard|last=anon|website=sanger.ac.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-01-02}}</ref><ref name=twitter>{{twitter |name=Richard Durbin}}</ref><ref name="googlescholar">{{Google Scholar id}}</ref> and Al-Kindi Professor of Genetics at the University of Cambridge.<ref name="dblp">{{DBLP}}</ref><ref name=camprof>{{cite journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315225606/https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2014-15/special/05/section7.shtml|archive-date=2015-03-15|url=https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2014-15/special/05/section7.shtml|journal=Cambridge University Reporter|title= Honorary Professors|publisher=University of Cambridge|date=12 December 2014|volume=CXLV|issue=5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/research-groups/durbin|title=Durbin Group — Department of Genetics|last=Anon|website=gen.cam.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2019-01-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/directory/richard-durbin|title=Professor Richard Durbin — Department of Genetics|last=Anon|website=gen.cam.ac.uk|date=27 September 2017 |language=en|access-date=2019-01-02}}</ref> He also serves as an associate faculty member at the Wellcome Sanger Institute where he was previously a senior group leader.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sanger.ac.uk/research/faculty/rdurbin/ |title=Dr Richard Durbin – Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute |archive-date=2012-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228004358/http://www.sanger.ac.uk/research/faculty/rdurbin/}}</ref><ref name="scopus">{{Scopus |name=Durbin, Richard M.}}</ref><ref name="wellcomearchive">[http://archives.wellcomelibrary.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28AltRefNo%3D%27grl%2Fdur%27%29 Richard Durbin archive collection] Richard Durbin entry in the Wellcome Library archive.</ref><ref name=epmc>{{EuropePMC}}</ref>
==Education== Durbin was educated at The Hall School, Hampstead{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} and Highgate School in London.<ref name="whoswho"/> After competing in the 1978/9 International Mathematical Olympiad,<ref>{{IMO results|id=11087}}</ref> he went on to study at the University of Cambridge graduating in 1982<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.riethoven.org/BioInformer/newsletter/archives/1/interview.html |title=The BioInformer nr. 1, 1997 – Interview with Dr. Richard Durbin |access-date=2011-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002111032/http://www.riethoven.org/BioInformer/newsletter/archives/1/interview.html |archive-date=2011-10-02}}</ref> with a second class honours degree in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos. After graduating, he continued to study for a PhD<ref name="durbinphd">{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|first=Richard|last=Durbin|title=Studies on the development and organisation of the nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans|publisher=University of Cambridge|year=1987|author-link=Richard M. Durbin|url=https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/permalink/f/t9gok8/44CAM_ALMA21431236490003606|website=cam.ac.uk|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.233920}}|oclc=499178924}}</ref> at St John's College, Cambridge<ref name="whoswho"/> studying the development and organisation of the nervous system of ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' whilst working at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, supervised by John Graham White.<ref name=durbinphd/>
==Career and research==
Durbin's early work included developing the primary instrument software for one of the first X-ray crystallography area detectors<ref name="pmid3704639">{{Cite journal | last1 = Durbin | first1 = R. M. | author-link1 = Richard M. Durbin | last2 = Burns | first2 = R. | last3 = Moulai | first3 = J. | last4 = Metcalf | first4 = P. | last5 = Freymann | first5 = D. | last6 = Blum | first6 = M. | last7 = Anderson | first7 = J. E. | last8 = Harrison | first8 = S. C. | last9 = Wiley | first9 = D. C. | title = Protein, DNA, and virus crystallography with a focused imaging proportional counter | journal = Science | volume = 232 | issue = 4754 | pages = 1127–1132 | year = 1986 | pmid = 3704639 | doi = 10.1126/science.3704639 | bibcode = 1986Sci...232.1127D }}</ref> and the MRC Biorad confocal microscope, alongside contributions to neural modelling.<ref name="pmid3561510">{{Cite journal | last1 = Durbin | first1 = R. | author-link1 = Richard M. Durbin | last2 = Willshaw | first2 = D. | doi = 10.1038/326689a0 | title = An analogue approach to the travelling salesman problem using an elastic net method | journal = Nature | volume = 326 | issue = 6114 | pages = 689–691 | year = 1987 | pmid = 3561510 | bibcode = 1987Natur.326..689D | s2cid = 4321691 }}</ref><ref name="pmid2304536">{{Cite journal | last1 = Durbin | first1 = R. | author-link1 = Richard M. Durbin | last2 = Mitchison | first2 = G. | doi = 10.1038/343644a0 | title = A dimension reduction framework for understanding cortical maps | journal = Nature | volume = 343 | issue = 6259 | pages = 644–647 | year = 1990 | pmid = 2304536 | bibcode = 1990Natur.343..644D | s2cid = 4352870 }}</ref>
He then led the informatics for the ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' genome project,<ref name="pmid9851916">{{Cite journal | last1 = c. Elegans Sequencing | first1 = C. | title = Genome sequence of the nematode C. Elegans: A platform for investigating biology | journal = Science | volume = 282 | issue = 5396 | pages = 2012–2018 | year = 1998 | pmid = 9851916 | doi=10.1126/science.282.5396.2012 | bibcode = 1998Sci...282.2012. }}</ref> and alongside Jean Thierry-Mieg developed the genome database AceDB, which evolved into the WormBase web resource. Following this he played an important role in data collection for and interpretation of the human genome sequence.<ref name="pmid11237011">{{Cite journal | first1 = E. S. | last1 = Lander | author-link1 = Eric Lander | last2 = Linton | first2 = M. | last3 = Birren | first3 = B. | last4 = Nusbaum | first4 = C. | last5 = Zody | first5 = C. | last6 = Baldwin | first6 = J. | last7 = Devon | first7 = K. | last8 = Dewar | first8 = K. | last9 = Doyle | first9 = M. | last10 = Fitzhugh | first10 = W. | last11 = Funke | first11 = R. | last12 = Gage | first12 = D. | last13 = Harris | first13 = K. | last14 = Heaford | first14 = A. | last15 = Howland | first15 = J. | last16 = Kann | first16 = L. | last17 = Lehoczky | first17 = J. | last18 = Levine | first18 = R. | last19 = McEwan | first19 = P. | last20 = McKernan | first20 = K. | last21 = Meldrim | first21 = J. | last22 = Mesirov | first22 = J. P. | last23 = Miranda | first23 = C. | last24 = Morris | first24 = W. | last25 = Naylor | first25 = J. | last26 = Raymond | first26 = C. | last27 = Rosetti | first27 = M. | last28 = Santos | first28 = R. | last29 = Sheridan | first29 = A. | last30 = Sougnez | first30 = C. | display-authors = 29 | title = Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome | journal = Nature | volume = 409 | issue = 6822 | pages = 860–921 | date =February 2001 | issn = 0028-0836 | pmid = 11237011 | doi = 10.1038/35057062| bibcode = 2001Natur.409..860L | url = https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62798/1/409860a0.pdf | doi-access = free }}</ref>
He has developed numerous methods for computational sequence analysis.<ref name="denovo">{{Cite journal | last1 = Simpson | first1 = J. T. | last2 = Durbin | first2 = R. | doi = 10.1101/gr.126953.111 | title = Efficient de novo assembly of large genomes using compressed data structures | journal = Genome Research | volume = 22 | issue = 3 | pages = 549–556 | year = 2011 | pmid = 22156294 | pmc =3290790 }}</ref><ref name="sequenceontology">{{Cite journal | last1 = Eilbeck | first1 = K. | last2 = Lewis | first2 = S. E. | author-link2 = Suzanna Lewis | last3 = Mungall | first3 = C. J. | last4 = Yandell | first4 = M. | last5 = Stein | first5 = L. | author-link5 = Lincoln Stein | last6 = Durbin | first6 = R. | author-link6 = Richard M. Durbin | last7 = Ashburner | first7 = M. | author-link7 = Michael Ashburner | title = The Sequence Ontology: A tool for the unification of genome annotations | journal = Genome Biology | volume = 6 | issue = 5 | pages = R44 | year = 2005 | doi = 10.1186/gb-2005-6-5-r44 | pmid = 15892872 | pmc =1175956 | doi-access = free }}</ref> These include gene finding (e.g. GeneWise) with Ewan Birney<ref name="pmid10779496">{{Cite journal | last1 = Birney | first1 = E. | author-link1 = Ewan Birney | last2 = Durbin | first2 = R. | author-link2 = Richard M. Durbin | title = Using GeneWise in the Drosophila annotation experiment | journal = Genome Research | volume = 10 | issue = 4 | pages = 547–548 | year = 2000 | pmid = 10779496 | pmc = 310858 | doi=10.1101/gr.10.4.547 }}</ref> and Hidden Markov models for protein and nucleic acid alignment and matching (e.g. HMMER) with Sean Eddy and Graeme Mitchison. A standard textbook ''Biological Sequence analysis'' coauthored with Sean Eddy, Anders Krogh and Graeme Mitchison<ref name="durbin98">{{Durbin 1998}}</ref> describes some of this work. Using these methods Durbin worked with colleagues to build a series of important genomic data resources, including the protein family database Pfam,<ref name="pmid9223186">{{Cite journal | last1 = Sonnhammer | first1 = E. L. L. | last2 = Eddy | first2 = S. R. | author-link2 = Sean Eddy | last3 = Durbin | first3 = R. | author-link3 = Richard M. Durbin | doi = 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0134(199707)28:3<405::AID-PROT10>3.0.CO;2-L | title = Pfam: A comprehensive database of protein domain families based on seed alignments | journal = Proteins: Structure, Function, and Genetics | volume = 28 | issue = 3 | pages = 405–420 | year = 1997 | pmid = 9223186 | s2cid = 9569028 }}</ref> the genome database Ensembl,<ref name="pmid11752248">{{Cite journal | last1 = Hubbard | first1 = T. | author-link1 = Tim Hubbard | last2 = Barker | first2 = D. | last3 = Birney | first3 = E. | author-link3 = Ewan Birney | last4 = Cameron | first4 = G. | last5 = Chen | first5 = Y. | last6 = Clark | first6 = L. | last7 = Cox | first7 = T. | last8 = Cuff | first8 = J. | last9 = Curwen | first9 = V. | last10 = Down | first10 = T. | last11 = Durbin | first11 = R. | last12 = Eyras | first12 = E. | last13 = Gilbert | first13 = J. | last14 = Hammond | first14 = M. | last15 = Huminiecki | first15 = L. | last16 = Kasprzyk | first16 = A. | last17 = Lehvaslaiho | first17 = H. | last18 = Lijnzaad | first18 = P. | last19 = Melsopp | first19 = C. | last20 = Mongin | first20 = E. | last21 = Pettett | first21 = R. | last22 = Pocock | first22 = M. | last23 = Potter | first23 = S. | last24 = Rust | first24 = A. | last25 = Schmidt | first25 = E. | last26 = Searle | first26 = S. | last27 = Slater | first27 = G. | last28 = Smith | first28 = J. | last29 = Spooner | first29 = W. | last30 = Stabenau | first30 = A. | title = The Ensembl genome database project | journal = Nucleic Acids Research | volume = 30 | issue = 1 | pages = 38–41 | year = 2002 | pmid = 11752248 | pmc = 99161 | doi=10.1093/nar/30.1.38 }}</ref> and the gene family database TreeFam.<ref name="pmid16381935">{{Cite journal | last1 = Li | first1 = H. | author-link = Heng Li | last2 = Coghlan | first2 = A. | last3 = Ruan | first3 = J. | last4 = Coin | first4 = L. J. | last5 = Hériché | first5 = J. K. | last6 = Osmotherly | first6 = L. | last7 = Li | first7 = R. | last8 = Liu | first8 = T. | last9 = Zhang | first9 = Z. | last10 = Bolund | first10 = L. | last11 = Wong | first11 = G. K. | last12 = Zheng | first12 = W. | last13 = Dehal | first13 = P. | last14 = Wang | first14 = J. | last15 = Durbin | first15 = R. | title = TreeFam: A curated database of phylogenetic trees of animal gene families | doi = 10.1093/nar/gkj118 | journal = Nucleic Acids Research | volume = 34 | issue = 90001 | pages = D572–D580 | year = 2006 | pmid = 16381935 | pmc =1347480 }}</ref>
More recently Durbin has returned to sequencing and has developed low coverage approaches to population genome sequencing, applied first to yeast,<ref name="pmid19212322">{{Cite journal | last1 = Liti | first1 = G. | last2 = Carter | first2 = D. M. | last3 = Moses | first3 = A. M. | last4 = Warringer | first4 = J. | last5 = Parts | first5 = L. | last6 = James | first6 = S. A. | last7 = Davey | first7 = R. P. | last8 = Roberts | first8 = I. N. | last9 = Burt | first9 = A. | last10 = Koufopanou | doi = 10.1038/nature07743 | first10 = V. | last11 = Tsai | first11 = I. J. | last12 = Bergman | first12 = C. M. | last13 = Bensasson | first13 = D. | last14 = O'Kelly | first14 = M. J. T. | last15 = Van Oudenaarden | first15 = A. | last16 = Barton | first16 = D. B. H. | last17 = Bailes | first17 = E. | last18 = Nguyen | first18 = A. N. | last19 = Jones | first19 = M. | last20 = Quail | first20 = M. A. | last21 = Goodhead | first21 = I. | last22 = Sims | first22 = S. | last23 = Smith | first23 = F. | last24 = Blomberg | first24 = A. | last25 = Durbin | first25 = R. | last26 = Louis | first26 = E. J. | title = Population genomics of domestic and wild yeasts | journal = Nature | volume = 458 | issue = 7236 | pages = 337–341 | year = 2009 | pmid = 19212322 | pmc =2659681 | bibcode = 2009Natur.458..337L }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Warringer | first1 = J. | last2 = Zörgö | first2 = E. | last3 = Cubillos | first3 = F. A. | last4 = Zia | first4 = A. | last5 = Gjuvsland | first5 = A. | last6 = Simpson | first6 = J. T. | last7 = Forsmark | first7 = A. | last8 = Durbin | first8 = R. | author-link8 = Richard M. Durbin | last9 = Omholt | first9 = S. W. | last10 = Louis | first10 = E. J. | last11 = Liti | first11 = G. | last12 = Moses | first12 = A. | last13 = Blomberg | first13 = A. | editor1-last = Kruglyak | editor1-first = Leonid | title = Trait variation in yeast is defined by population history | journal = PLOS Genetics | volume = 7 | issue = 6 | article-number = e1002111 | year = 2011 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002111 | pmid = 21698134 | pmc =3116910 | doi-access = free }}</ref> and has been one of the leaders in the application of new sequencing technology to study human genome variation.<ref name="pmid18987734">{{Cite journal | last1 = Bentley | first1 = D. R. | last2 = Balasubramanian | first2 = S. | last3 = Swerdlow | first3 = H. P. | last4 = Smith | first4 = G. P. | last5 = Milton | first5 = J. | last6 = Brown | first6 = C. G. | last7 = Hall | first7 = K. P. | last8 = Evers | first8 = D. J. | last9 = Barnes | first9 = C. L. | last10 = Bignell | doi = 10.1038/nature07517 | first10 = H. R. | last11 = Boutell | first11 = J. M. | last12 = Bryant | first12 = J. | last13 = Carter | first13 = R. J. | last14 = Keira Cheetham | first14 = R. | last15 = Cox | first15 = A. J. | last16 = Ellis | first16 = D. J. | last17 = Flatbush | first17 = M. R. | last18 = Gormley | first18 = N. A. | last19 = Humphray | first19 = S. J. | last20 = Irving | first20 = L. J. | last21 = Karbelashvili | first21 = M. S. | last22 = Kirk | first22 = S. M. | last23 = Li | first23 = H. | last24 = Liu | first24 = X. | last25 = Maisinger | first25 = K. S. | last26 = Murray | first26 = L. J. | last27 = Obradovic | first27 = B. | last28 = Ost | first28 = T. | last29 = Parkinson | first29 = M. L. | last30 = Pratt | first30 = M. R. | title = Accurate whole human genome sequencing using reversible terminator chemistry | journal = Nature | volume = 456 | issue = 7218 | pages = 53–59 | year = 2008 | pmid = 18987734 | pmc =2581791 | bibcode = 2008Natur.456...53B | display-authors = 29 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Li | first1 = H. | author-link1 = Heng Li | last2 = Durbin | first2 = R. | author-link2 = Richard M. Durbin | doi = 10.1038/nature10231 | title = Inference of human population history from individual whole-genome sequences | journal = Nature | volume = 475 | issue = 7357 | pages = 493–496 | year = 2011 | pmid = 21753753 | pmc = 3154645 }}</ref> Durbin currently co-leads the international 1000 Genomes Project to characterise variation down to 1% allele frequency as a foundation for human genetics.
===Awards and honours=== Durbin was a joint winner of the Mullard Award of the Royal Society in 1994 (for work on the confocal microscope), won the Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award of the Foundation for Science and Technology in 2004, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2004<ref name=royale>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119115614/https://royalsociety.org/people/richard-durbin-11366/|archive-date=2015-11-19|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/richard-durbin-11366/|title=Professor Richard Durbin FRS Fellow|publisher=Royal Society|location=London}}</ref> and a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2009. The Royal Society awarded its Gabor Medal to Durbin in 2017 for his contributions to computational biology.<ref>{{cite web |title= Gabor Medal - Gabor Medallist 2017 |url= https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/gabor-medal/ |publisher= The Royal Society |access-date= 10 October 2017 |date= 2017}}</ref> In 2023 he received the International Prize for Biology for his work on the Biology of Genomes.
Durbin's certificate of election for the Royal Society reads: {{centred pull quote|Durbin is distinguished for his powerful contribution to computational biology. In particular, he played a leading role in establishing the new field of bioinformatics. This allows the handling of biological data on an unprecedented scale, enabling genomics to prosper. He led the analysis of the ''C. elegans'' genome, and with Thierry-Mieg developed the database software AceDB. In the international genome project he led the analysis of protein coding genes. He introduced key computational tools in software and data handling. His Pfam database allowed the identification of domains in new protein sequences; it used hidden Markov models to which approach generally he brought rigour and which led to covariance models for RNA sequence.<ref name="royal">{{cite web|url=http://royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC%2F2004%2F17%27)|title = Library and Archive Catalogue|publisher=The Royal Society|access-date=2013-11-14|location=London}}</ref>}}
==Personal life== Durbin is the son of James Durbin and is married to Julie Ahringer, a scientist at the Gurdon Institute. They have two children.<ref name="whoswho"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{ISCB Fellows}} {{FRS 2004}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durbin, Richard}} Category:Living people Category:Fellows of the International Society for Computational Biology Category:1960 births Category:Wellcome Trust Category:People educated at Highgate School Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Category:British bioinformaticians Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Category:People educated at The Hall School, Hampstead Category:Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge Category:British fellows of the Royal Society Category:International Mathematical Olympiad participants Category:Human Genome Project scientists