Prof. Ewan Birney

Ewan Birney is Executive Director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), with sites in Hinxton (UK) and Heidelberg (Germany). He leads EMBL’s scientific strategy under the Molecules to Ecosystemsprogramme. Birney previously served as Director of EMBL-EBI (2015–2025) and played a central role in landmark genomics initiatives including the Human Genome Project and ENCODE. His research focuses on functional genomics, statistical genomics, and computational analysis of genomic data. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a member of EMBO, and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).