born Jan. 25, 1949, Norwich, Norfolk, Eng.
British scientist.
He earned a Ph.D. from the University of East Anglia in 1973 and was a professor at the University of Oxford from 1987 to 1993. In 1996 he was named director general of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK). In the mid-1970s he conducted research on yeast and discovered the gene that regulates different phases of the cell cycle. He later found the corresponding gene in humans. His work aided in the understanding of cancer cell development. Nurse shared a Nobel Prize with R. Timothy Hunt and Leland H. Hartwell in 2001.