Farewell to Professor Nicole Zitzmann
The Department of Biochemistry bid farewell to a much-valued colleague at the end of 2025
At a departmental farewell on Tuesday 25 November 2025, Professors Rob Klose and Raymond Dwek made moving speeches in celebration of the career, expertise and friendship of Professor Nicole Zitzmann.
Rob Klose:
Nicole: We are all so pleased to be here today on the occasion of your retirement.
Nicole came to Oxford in 1997 as a post-doctoral researcher in the Glycobiology institute in Raymond Dwek’s group. She was then awarded a Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship of the Royal Society from 1999 to 2003 and started running her own group focused on antivirals. In 2002 she took over running the Proteomics Group and, in time, became the Deputy Director of the Glycobiology institute and then its Director. In 2010 she was named Professor of Virology and in 2012 she took over leading the Infection and Disease Processes theme. During this time, she had also been a fellow at Linacre, Wolfson, Christ Church, and Merton Colleges.
Most of us are familiar with Nicole’s field leading research on understanding glycoprotein folding and quality control and how this understanding can be applied to antiviral approaches – to Hepatitis C (HCV), Dengue, Hepatitis B (HBV), HIV/AIDS, influenza, Ebola. Nicole has over 100 publications. What has been impressive with Nicole’s work has been her capacity to take basic discoveries towards drug development and she has had very close ties with UTH, United Therapeutics, and EBS, Emergent Biosciences. There are now over 25 patents around this work.
While all this is very impressive and will be Nicole’s legacy, I think it is Nicole as the individual and mentor that has touched people the most. When I first joined the department, we were in the Rodney Porter Building. Every day we would have tea/coffee in the Howard Schneidermann Room and that is where I first met Nicole. I was a bit lost and talking to Nicole helped me a lot in understanding how the department worked and how to get my lab up and running, so I owe her a debt of gratitude
I think that is just the type of person Nicole is: always willing to help people and a fantastic mentor to young scientists and colleagues, having mentored 29 PhD students and playing a similar role to many more post-docs and colleagues. She also inspired our undergraduates an was awarded teaching excellence awards on multiple occasions
The selflessness of Nicole’s approach to life and science was evident when the Ebola outbreak in 2015 occurred. She led a team in Sierra Leone to screen and help patients, for which she was awarded the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa from the UK government. Remember her talk on that?
During the Covid pandemic she set about applying her expertise in virology to identifying possible drugs to repurpose, the SARS tracker website, and also a subsequent vaccine authentication platform.
Nicole, we as a community are all greatly indebted to you for your kindness, friendship and leadership over the past nearly thirty years of service to the department. You will be sorely missed, but we are excited for the new adventures you will have back in Germany.
We will all miss dropping by and saying hi to you and George [Nicole's dog] on the way into the building so you must stay in contact and kept us in the loop.
Thanks again.
Nicole with one of her gifts
Raymond Dwek:
Today we celebrate the remarkable career of Professor Nicole Zitzmann—a scientist, a leader, and an inspiration. Nicole’s journey at Oxford has been nothing short of extraordinary. As Head of the Oxford Antiviral Drug Discovery Unit, she has shaped global antiviral research and mentored many scientists.
Nicole is also one of the nicest people on the planet. She has multiple talents in all sorts of areas from singing to mosaics to pottery to gardening to glasswork and needlework and she is also a fabulous baker.
Her pioneering work has advanced our understanding of viral glycoproteins and is leading to innovative therapies for viral diseases. Nicole’s vision for broad-spectrum antivirals positioned Oxford at the forefront of pandemic preparedness, and her contributions during COVID-19 were vital in accelerating drug development.
But Nicole’s impact goes beyond the lab. In 2015, she stepped into the Ebola “hot zone” in Sierra Leone, volunteering at the Makeni Treatment Centre during the West African outbreak. For this courageous service, she received the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa—a testament to her commitment to science and humanity.
Her leadership has been equally inspiring. Nicole has supervised 29 DPhil students, fostering excellence and curiosity. She held a prestigious Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship early in her career, and her dedication has earned international recognition.
Nicole, your work has saved lives, advanced knowledge, and strengthened Oxford’s reputation worldwide. You have shown us that science is not just about discovery—it’s about responsibility, courage, and compassion.
On behalf of colleagues, students, and friends, thank you for your brilliance, your generosity, and your unwavering commitment. We wish you joy, health, and new adventures in this next chapter.
Congratulations on a truly exceptional career.
Colleagues gather to say farewell to Nicole
