Chris Lawson

Chris has a BSc. in pure chemistry from The University of Edinburgh where he also read for a PhD on The Chemistry and Enzymology of Marine and Bacterial Polysaccharides under Sir Dai Rees. ​

Chris joined Tate & Lyle in 1969 as a chemist to help develop microbial polysaccharides such as xanthan gum and microbial alginate that resulted in the construction of a fermentation plant in Liverpool. He also held a number of senior R&D positions there before jointly founding the carbohydrate company Dextra Laboratories and as joint CEO, helped to develop Dextra into a successful glycobiology company. In 2007, following the sale of Dextra to The Summit Corporation Chris formed Glycomix Ltd, a specialist company working in the area of polysaccharide chemistry. Glycomix was acquired by Biosynth Carbosynth in 2016 and Chris joined the company as a Senior Scientific Advisor, providing expert advice to customers on carbohydrate-related subjects and producing a range of technical marketing materials. ​

​Chris is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry and a committee member of the RSC carbohydrate group. He is also a member of the American Chemical Society carbohydrate division and The SCI and has over 40 publications, patents and book chapters.