Professor Philippa Borrill

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Philippa Borrill of the John Innes Centre.

Philippa, a very highly regarded figure in the UK and international wheat community, was a winner of the Rank Prize New Lecturer Award in 2018. She made significant contributions to the Rank Prize community more widely over many years, participating in Rank Symposia and supervising students through the Rank Prize Undergrad Vacation grant scheme.

Philippa performed pioneering work on the wheat genome to improve the nutritional value of its grain. Her research included identifying key NAC transcription factor genes that control wheat grain filling.

Philippa was also fascinated how wheat grain quality could be improved to provide key micronutrients, such as iron and zinc, which are low in wheat grains. To facilitate this goal, Philippa, and her collaborator Kelly Houston from the James Hutton Institute, had secured funding from Rank Prize for a Symposium on ‘Hidden Hunger: from plant breeding to policy’ to be held in September 2026.

Always generous with her time, Philippa was a remarkable peer and colleague in the scientific community who facilitated and supported the careers of many students and post-doctoral researchers. Her influence will continue through her many mentees and colleagues and through the far-reaching impact of her scientific work. She will be long and very warmly remembered.