Professor David Kelly is Emeritus Professor of Microbial Physiology at the University of Sheffield, UK. He has >35 years research expertise in bacterial physiology and biochemistry, membrane electron and solute transport processes and bioenergetics that underpin microbial biotechnology processes. He has long-standing interests in solute transport mechanisms and discovered an entirely new class of periplasmic binding-protein dependent prokaryotic solute transporters, the TRAP transporters, which have biotechnological potential in optimising cell factory productivity and in the valorisation of lignin-derived aromatic compounds. His research has also included understanding and mitigating autotoxicity of chemicals produced by microbial cell factories e.g. vanillin and organic acids.  He has published >150 papers (h=57, 2025), held numerous grants, served on grant committees and has been a regular invited speaker at national and international conferences. He is also the recipient of a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust, UK.