Francis Crick Prize Lecture: Pathogens and the power of evolution

The Francis Crick Medal and Lecture 2026 is awarded to Professor Kayla King for contributions to the fields of evolutionary biology and genetics of infectious disease.

Why are some infections more harmful than others? Pathogens can have huge potential to evolve higher (or lower) virulence over short periods of time. In this lecture, Professor Kayla King will explore the rapid evolution of pathogens across the tree of life. Drawing on evolutionary theory, genome sequencing, and selection experiments in which bacterial and viral pathogens are passaged in the lab, she will reveal what drives these evolutionary changes in virulence, as well as the consequences for pathogen genomes and host health. Professor King will present examples of pathogens evolving within weeks in response to host immunity and warming temperatures.

The lecture will ultimately discuss the implications of her group’s research for predicting pathogen virulence and patterns of genomic evolution in a changing world. Amidst an increased risk of zoonoses jumping to protected species and humans, a better understanding of pathogen virulence evolution has never been more important.

Professor Kayla King is an evolutionary biologist whose work focuses on the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of animal-pathogen interactions across the tree of life. Her research aims to unravel how traits, such as virulence and transmissibility, evolve in endemic and emerging pathogens, with implications for biodiversity conservation and getting ahead in the race against zoonoses. She is a Professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair in the Departments of Zoology and Microbiology & Immunology at the University of British Columbia, as well as a Professorial Fellow in Biology, University of Oxford.

Professor King has received many honours, including the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada Arthur B. McDonald Prize (2024), Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution Mid-Career Excellence Award (2023), Zoological Society of London Scientific Medal (2022), Linnean Society Bicentenary Medal (2020), Philip Leverhulme Prize for Biology (2018), and American Society of Naturalists Early Career Investigator Prize (2013).

• The event is free to join, please register via Eventbrite for a ticket
• You will only be able to join us in person on the day if you registered for an in person ticket on Eventbrite.
• Live subtitles will be available in-person and virtually

• This lecture can be attended in-person at the Royal Society
• Doors will open to the public at 6.00pm BST

Find travel and accessibility information on our website

• The lecture will also be livestreamed here and on the Royal Society YouTube channel
• You can take part in the live Q&A via Slido
• This event will be recorded (including the live Q&A) and the recording will be available on YouTube soon after the event
• For all enquiries, please contact [email protected]