Douglas Higgs

Douglas Roland Higgs FRS (born 13 January 1951) is a Professor of Molecular Haematology at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, at the University of Oxford. He is known for his work on the regulation of alpha-globin and the genetics of alpha-thalassemia. He is currently working in understanding the mechanisms by which any mammalian gene is switched on and off during differentiation and development.

Education
He was educated at Alleyn's School and qualified in medicine at King's College Hospital Medical School in 1974, and trained as a haematologist. He became a registrar in Haematology at Kings College Hospital in 1976.

Research and career
He joined the Molecular Haematology Unit of the Medical Research Council at Oxford in 1977. In 1996 he was appointed Ad Hominem Professor of Molecular Haematology. In 2001, he became a director of the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit (MHU). In 2012, Higgs was appointed director of the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM). In 2020, Higgs was succeeded as director of the MRC MHU and WIMM by Ketan J. Patel. Higgs is a Senior Kurti Fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford.

Honours and awards

 * 1993 Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
 * 1994 Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists
 * 2001 Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
 * 2005 Fellow of the Royal Society
 * 2013 Buchanan Medal of the Royal Society for "his seminal work on the regulation of the human alpha-globin gene cluster and the role of the ATRX protein in genetic disease."