Tony Hyman starts as EMBL Director General

Former EMBL group leader returns to lead the organisation’s six sites at a time of change and opportunity in life sciences

EMBL welcomes its new Director General, Tony Hyman, who will take up the mandate of leading EMBL’s six sites as the organisation enters its next phase.

Hyman succeeds Interim Director Ewan Birney, who assumed leadership following the death of Interim Director General Peer Bork in January. Together, they led EMBL after former Director General Edith Heard departed to become Director and Chief Executive of the Francis Crick Institute in London.

Hyman has had a long-standing relationship with EMBL, having served as a group leader and visiting senior scientist at EMBL Heidelberg from 1993 to 1999. He is also one of four founding directors of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, and holds a professorship of Molecular Biology at Technische Universität Dresden. His research focuses on the role of biological condensates and phase separation in health and disease.

“This is a moment when biology is changing rapidly,” said Hyman. “Advances in imaging, large-scale data generation, and artificial intelligence are reshaping how we study living systems. EMBL has played an important role in previous periods of change, and I look forward to working with colleagues across the organisation as it enters this next phase.”