Robert Burgoyne

Robert D. Burgoyne (born 1953) is a British physiologist and neuroscientist and Emeritus Professor of Physiology at the University of Liverpool. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2002. He was elected a member of Academia Europaea in 2001.

Education and academic career

Bob Burgoyne received a Bachelor of Science degree in Bacteriology in 1974 and a PhD in Microbiology in 1977 from the University of Birmingham.

Following postdoctoral research at the Open University and the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in London, he joined the University of Liverpool in 1983 as a lecturer in physiology and was appointed Professor of Physiology in 1990.

He was involved in establishing a research fellowship scheme at Liverpool intended to enable early-career scientists to focus on research activity and which received national attention.

Burgoyne later held senior leadership roles within the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, including Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Executive Pro-Vice-Chancellor.

Research

Burgoyne’s research has focused on molecular mechanisms underlying neurotransmission, particularly calcium-dependent regulation of synaptic vesicle exocytosis and the function of neuronal calcium sensor (NCS) proteins.

His publication record and research output have been indexed by academic analytics services.

Selected publications

Personal life

Burgoyne was married to Jenny for 43 years until her death in 2023.

Their twin sons are both academic researchers in biomedical sciences. Joe Burgoyne is a researcher in cardiovascular sciences at King's College London, and Tom Burgoyne leads a research group at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, part of University College London.