Jim Naismith is Professor of Chemical Biology at St Andrew’s University. He recognised the emerging problem of antibiotic resistance and has devoted his scientific career to the development of new therapeutic compounds and the identification of novel targets specific to microbial pathogens. Highlights include solving the structure and mechanism of a bacterial fluorinating enzyme, determining the mechanism of tryptophan 7-halogenase and establishing the structure of an open E. coli mechanosensitive channel. His contributions have been recognised by the Carbohydrate Chemistry Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Leverhulme Prize in Molecular Biology and the Colworth Medal of Biochemical Society.