Sir Brian Heap was Master of St Edmund's College, Cambridge from 1996-2004. A graduate of Nottingham University in animal physiology, he came to Cambridge in 1960 as a University Demonstrator, became a staff member at the Institute of Animal Physiology, Babraham, Cambridge, and later became Director of the Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research (Cambridge and Edinburgh), and Director of Research of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Swindon. His research in the area of pregnancy, growth and lactation has been followed by work on sustainable consumption, bioethics and science advice. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, he was Foreign Secretary and Vice-President from 1996-2001 and has served in many capacities nationally and internationally. Among current activities (as at 2009) he is Vice-Chair of the European Academies Science Advisory Council, Advisory Board member of the Templeton Foundation, co-Director of the Cambridge-Templeton Journalism Fellowship programme, and Chair of the Cambridge Theological Foundation. He is an Honorary Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford and a Senior Member of King's College. He consults for ZyGEM Co Ltd, New Zealand and formerly for Merck, Sharp and Dohme, Johnson and Johnson, and Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the USA.