In the autumn of 2024, David Stephens, a prominent member of the UK cell biology community and a brilliant scientist, leader and mentor, passed away. With his pragmatism and natural authority, combined with his generosity and wonderful sense of humour, David will be widely missed. Here, we remember David from our own perspectives as close colleagues and friends, using fond recollections from scientists from around the world.
After obtaining a first in Biochemistry from Royal Holloway, David went on to do a PhD at St George's studying Alzheimer's disease, specifically how amyloid is moved around and processed in brain cells. His PhD supervisor – Brian Austen – remembers him as a ‘superb experimentalist’, reflecting on David's “infectious enthusiasm and stream of ideas”. Brian says that David's work “has indirectly contributed to international efforts that have finally led to the novel diagnoses and treatment of Alzheimer's”.
David's interest in protein and membrane trafficking, led him to Bristol in 1996 where he took on a role as a postdoc in George Banting's lab in the Department of Biochemistry. David made major contributions to several papers during this time and is remembered by his lab mates at the time as having an “infectious enthusiasm for science and life in general (especially beer and football)”.
David moved on to carry out an EMBO Long-term Fellowship at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, motivated to learn from the very best how to study dynamic trafficking events in living cells. Here, in the lab of Rainer Pepperkok, David was trained in cutting-edge microscopy techniques and would go on to make a name for himself as an expert microscopist.
David's successes in Heidelberg gave him a springboard to apply for fellowships to start his own research group back in Bristol. His funding came in the form of an MRC non-clinical Career Development Fellowship. From this foundation, David built, nurtured and developed a highly successful research group that went on to make numerous important contributions in cell biology; particularly, the roles of coats and motors in membrane and protein trafficking, understanding how large proteins, such as collagen, are assembled and secreted, and detailed, mechanistic characterisation of primary cilia assembly. To make impactful contributions in these areas, David established productive and exciting collaborations with academic and clinical colleagues near and far. He really enjoyed this way of doing science – where talented people join to share knowledge and expertise to answer important questions. During this time, David was awarded two consecutive follow-on fellowships, including an MRC Senior Fellowship. He was appointed to a permanent position in Bristol and promoted to Professor at the age of 39.
David was an outstanding scientist. This comes through in the remarks from colleagues around the world who testify to his deep, yet incredibly broad knowledge, of his scientific rigour and integrity, his sense of fairness, and of his never-ending enthusiasm for research. David was also an incredibly sociable person who made a lasting, positive impression wherever he went.
He was, in many ways, the perfect academic. Equally great at research, teaching, administration, mentorship and leadership. He was so professional in everything he did. So well organised, so well prepared.
David never cut corners. To ‘knock the edges off’ was one of his favourite phrases, meaning what one might do to get a piece of work done quickly by sacrificing a little bit of rigour. David refused to do this – he did things correctly, or not at all.
David was a passionate and vocal advocate of open science, believing very strongly that science should be accessible to all, and this was the way he did his research. He believed in the power of sharing ideas and resources for the benefit of science, so when researchers requested reagents from him, he was always delighted to provide them, without strings.
David also did much more than his fair share for the wider scientific community, including roles with learned societies and journal editorial roles, notably with Journal of Cell Science (where he served as an Editor from 2015 to 2024). As ever, he performed these duties with total dedication and professionalism. Perhaps his most outstanding contributions were at the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) where his amazingly broad scientific knowledge and unwavering fairness made him an outstanding research funding committee Chair. David was subsequently recruited to the BBSRC Council – an extremely important strategic role that demonstrates just how highly his ideas and opinions were regarded.
Colleagues from around the world have shared memories of David. They note: David's scientific rigour; that he was a great role model; his unwavering positivity; his enthusiasm and his determination; his deep knowledge of his own research field; his rather amazing (and somewhat annoying!) deep knowledge of other fields as well; his fairness; that he was kind, yet competitive; his creativity; his generosity and his humour.
He had the confidence to place enormous trust in others to allow them to grow and reach their potential, and all of this made for an excellent mentor. David willingly found the time to offer meaningful support and guidance to his colleagues – “he held the route map for so many things” remarked one new colleague in Bristol. This also made David an outstanding and fiercely loyal friend to those of us lucky enough to have called him that.
David was diagnosed with stage IV bowel cancer in early 2022. He faced the diagnosis, subsequent treatment and inevitable outcome with remarkable stoicism. David remained the ‘David’ that all knew until the end. He leaves his wife Caroline and sons Isaac and Oscar.
David truly was ‘one of the good guys’, and we miss him greatly.
