Dr. Aled Edwards
Director & CEO

Dr. Aled Edwards oversees the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) from Toronto, Canada. Trained as a protein biochemist at McGill University, Dr. Edwards migrated to the field of structural biology in Roger Kornberg's laboratory in Stanford University, where he discovered how to purify and crystallize RNA polymerase II; a feat that ultimately enabled Kornberg to determine its structure. In his own laboratory at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and then at the University of Toronto, his group collaborated to determine the structures of many proteins, protein-protein complexes and protein-DNA complexes.

In 1997, Dr. Edwards and Dr. Cheryl Arrowsmith, contemporaneously with similar efforts around the world, launched a pilot project in structural genomics. The publication derived from the Toronto pilot project represented the first report of a large-scale effort in structural biology. Since 2000, first as part of the Midwest Consortium for Structural Genomics (MCSG) Executive Team and then as the Director of the Structural Genomic Consortium (SGC), Dr. Edwards' team has contributed to over 900 unique structures into the Protein Data Bank, along the way providing the structural basis for over a dozen human genetic diseases, revealing the mechanism of Mg transport across membranes and uncovering ways in which the identification of adventitiously purifying small molecules can be used to elucidate protein function.

Dr. Edwards has also built and managed organizations. He co-founded and served as the CEO of Integrative Proteomics and Chalon Biotech (later merged to form Affinium Pharmaceuticals), co-founded Jaguar Biosciences, serves on the Executive Committee of the MCSG and most recently serves as the CEO of the SGC.  He is also on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and NorComm, the North American Conditional Mouse Mutagenesis project.

As Chief Executive of the SGC, Dr. Edwards has overseen the growth of the organization from its inception, a responsibility that included preparation and oversight of the scientific and business plan, recruitment of the senior team, obtaining funding and expanding the consortium to include the Swedish laboratory. In Phase II of the SGC, Dr. Edwards will maintain overall scientific and financial responsibility for the SGC and will oversee the growth of the SGC's membrane protein and chemical biology initiatives; as well as the consortium's Visiting Scientists Program, in which the SGC will encourage collaboration with scientists from around the world.

Dr. Edwards is a Professor and Banbury Chair of Medical Research in the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research at the University of Toronto.  He is also the Scientific Advisor to the award-winning international TV science drama, ReGenesis.