Nick Talbot awarded RKS Wood Prize
We are pleased to announce that Professor Nick Talbot, Executive Director and senior group leader at The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL), has been awarded the RKS Wood Prize 2026 by the British Society of Plant Pathology.
Professor Nick Talbot has been awarded the RKS Wood Prize 2026 for his exceptional contributions to the field of plant pathology. Nick is the second TSL group leader to receive this prize, joining Professor Sophien Kamoun who received the RKS Wood Prize in 2021.
This recognition reinforces TSL's leading role in advancing our understanding of the infection mechanisms that allow fungi to cause plant diseases.
Professor RKS Wood was a pioneering plant pathologist who revolutionised the study of plant disease by introducing the discipline of "Physiological Plant Pathology". Professor Wood was among the first to ask why some plants resist microbial infection while others succumb to disease. He championed “looking under the bonnet” to study the physiology and biochemistry of plant–pathogen interactions.
His landmark textbook of the same name had a transformative impact on a generation of plant scientists, many of whom are now leaders in the field.
In recognition of this legacy, the British Society for Plant Pathology (BSPP) established the RKS Wood Prize in 2018 to award scientists who have made outstanding contributions in the study of plant disease and its application to protect plants against pathogens.
Nick Talbot is internationally recognised for his pioneering research on the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, and he counts himself among the many scientists deeply influenced by RKS Wood’s work.
The rice blast fungus causes the most severe disease of cultivated rice, destroying enough crop every year to feed 60 million people. Research from the Talbot group has dramatically advanced our understanding of how the blast fungus invades plant tissues and suppresses plant immunity. His group has also led large-scale programmes to develop rice varieties with durable disease resistance.
With over 220 publications, Nick's work embodies the spirit of RKS Wood’s vision: to uncover, at the most fundamental level, the mechanisms that govern plant–pathogen interactions and translate that knowledge into protecting global food security.
Nick says “I am humbled to have been awarded the RKS Wood Prize 2026. Science is a team effort, and this recognition reflects the work of my research group over many years. I’d like to thank all of them and my wonderful TSL colleagues for their inspiration and support.”
The RKS Wood Prize will be presented to Nick at next year's BSPP meeting which will be hosted at the Norwich Research Park, home to TSL, and hosted by BSPP President-Elect Professor Saskia Hogenhout, a John Innes Centre group leader and adjunct member of TSL. This is a fitting venue to celebrate achievements in plant pathology research, as experts from around the world will gather in Norwich at the time of an exciting new development. Supported by major UKRI investment and private donors, a major infrastructure project to re-build JIC and TSL will be well underway. This represents a significant commitment by the UK to advance research in plant and microbial sciences, building on successes such as this BSPP award.
