Peter Doyle

Until summer 2003 Dr Peter Doyle was Chairman of the UK's main public funding body, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), which is overseen by the ministry of science. Until 2006 Lord David Sainsbury was science minister.

He is also a director of Syngenta. Doyle served as Director of Oxagen, Avidex and Chairman of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. He served as director of ICI from 1989 until 1993 and of Zeneca Group PLC from1993 until April 1999. He holds a BS (Hons) degree in pure science and a PhD in chemistry from Glasgow University.

Zeneca featured twice on Friends of the Earth's '50 Filthiest Factories' list for 1996. Doyle has been a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Protection. Prior to working for Zeneca, Doyle was a Director of ICI (1989-1993).

Doyle left Zeneca at the time of its 1999 merger with Swedish pharmaceutical company Astra, to form AstraZeneca. The 'crop science' part of the company subsequently became part of GM giant Syngenta via a merger with Novartis.

Zeneca under Doyle committed itself to investing £50 million in the John Innes Centre in Norwich, which is funded by the BBSRC and Lord David Sainsbury through his Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

On leaving Zeneca, Peter Doyle joined the board of genomics company Oxagen Ltd (1999-2002). Doyle was also a non-executive director of Oxford Molecular PLC (1997-2000). He is a non-executive director of Avidex. He is also a trustee of the Nuffield Foundation and the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust, which is chaired by Dame Bridget Ogilvie, and previously was a member of the Medical Research Council and the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee on Science and Technology.