David Emery began his scientific career in 1983 in the Department of Biochemistry at Bristol, having obtained a BSc in Cell and Molecular Biology at King’s College London. In 1988 he gained his PhD at Bristol, researching gene regulation including hormonal influences and long-range genetic elements involved in chromatin domain structure.
He continued this research for a year at Baylor University in Texas, returning in 1989 to the Department of Biochemistry at Bristol. There, he helped to establish the first automated DNA sequencing service in the UK, as part of the UK SERC Molecular Recognition Initiative. He then spent six years at the Medical Research Council’s National Institute of Medical Research in Mill Hill (now part of the Francis Crick Institute), expressing and purifying recombinant proteins for X-ray crystallography.
In 2000, David set up his own business, Emergen Molecular Biology Services, working for the next 14 years on a large variety of projects, particularly the expression and purification of proteins for drug development. In 2014, he became a Senior Research Associate in the Faculty of Health Sciences, based at Southmead Learning and Research Building, primarily examining the microbial theory of Alzheimer’s disease, in collaboration with Professor Nicola West in the Dental School. His paper in 2016 pioneered the use of next-generation sequencing in human post-mortem brain tissue. He then extended his techniques for use in identification of viable bacteria in the blood, and to show, in a more recent paper, that the majority of intact bacteria in blood is derived from the oral cavity. He also played an important part in the setting up of clinical trials to ascertain whether treating periodontitis could reduce the rate of onset of dementia in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. This resulted finally in the funding of an NIHR grant this year.
David was a dedicated scientist, delighting in solving the most complicated of problems, yet was equally happy helping others. He would spend hours exploring problems and helping students and colleagues alike. He was much loved and admired, and all who knew him have been truly shocked and saddened to hear the news of his death.
Colleagues and students from Bristol, and collaborators from other institutes, have written to say how much they valued their time with David and how he helped to ‘inspire new findings’; that meeting him was always a ‘highlight of the day’; that he had ‘a fun and insightful energy’, and that they ‘really enjoyed their time working with him’; that it was ‘truly a privilege to work with him’. Anyone who has spent time with him will know what a terrible loss this is. They will also know what a courageous, dignified and kind person he was. He leaves a wife and twin girls and many saddened colleagues and friends.