Career / Interests and Impact Summary: - Sarah Gurr holds the Chair in Food Security at Exeter University. She studied at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (BSc, ARCS, DIC and PhD (Plant Pathology)), where she was awarded The Huxley Medal for her outstanding record of achievement (and a Social Blue).  She was a post-doctoral Fellow at St Andrews University and thence an independent Royal Society University Research Fellow. She was appointed, as Lecturer and Fellow of Somerville College, promoted to Reader and Professor at Oxford University, where she held a Leverhulme Trust Royal Society Senior Research and a NESTA (Science, Technology and the Arts) Fellowship. She was a curator of the Oxford Botanic Garden. Sarah was recently Head of School, Biosciences, Exeter. She was formerly the first woman President of The British Society of Plant Pathology (BSPP), member of the Board of Directors of Rothamsted Research and sat on BBSRC Council (Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council). She serves on The International Advisory Board at SLU University, Uppsala (until 2024); scientific committee of MycoNeos; as Advisor to The Scottish Government on Plant Health (SAB, RESAS, until 2024); and as a member of Plant Heath Scotland (James Hutton Institute) and was elected to serve on The Rank Foundation; The Wolfson Trust Science and Medicine panel and as a trustee to The Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh The East Malling Trust. Sarah held the Donder's Chair (Honorary) at Utrecht University; thence appointed Visiting Prof at Utrecht and was awarded the President’s prize by the British Mycological Society and Hon. membership of BSPP. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR); Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology; Senior Research Fellow at Somerville College, Oxford; and Hon Res Assoc. at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Fellow at The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by SLU Uppsala.

Her interest is in plant disease - with particular emphasis on fungal infestations and in their global movement and control. Sarah has been invited to speak all over the world - in plenary and keynote conference lectures, and on national and international television and radio.  She has authored or co-authored over 190 publications, including high profile papers in Science, Nature and Nature Journals, various patents and a contribution to the Government Foresight report on “Biological Hazards” and advised Government on the Plant Health strategy for the UK (2023) and Gene Editing for Crops bill (2023). In 2019 and 2023, she was listed amongst the most highly cited researchers worldwide (Clarivate Analytics).