Mike Stratton is step down as director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the Cambridge Independent reports. It adds that Stratton will remain there as a cancer researcher.
Startton became director 12 years ago, after joining Sanger in 2000 and becoming deputy director in 2007. At that time, Stratton said he aimed to "build ambitiously on the Institute's current leadership in large-scale analysis of genomes and experimental studies in model organisms to develop cellular systems that will explore human biology and to provide transformative insights into how diseases develop."
In a statement, Stratton now says he is "immensely proud of what we have accomplished at the Institute and on Campus and am absolutely sure that the Sanger Institute will continue to fly high as a global leader in genome research."
The Guardian reported in 2018 that Stratton apologized for managerial failings, after a number of complaints of bullying and gender discrimination at the institute. An investigation found no evidence that Stratton bullied staff but did find that many managerial decisions were not transparent or well communicated, it added.
The institute says it will begin looking for a new director and expects the transition to occur in 2023.