Paul was Professor of Molecular Membrane Biology (2001‐14), Master of St Edmund's College (2004‐14) and Deputy Head of the School of Clinical Medicine (2012‐14) at the University of Cambridge, until reaching the University retirement age.
Paul graduated from Cambridge with a BA in Natural Sciences and a PhD in Biochemistry. Most of his career was spent in Cambridge and he was Director of the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (2002‐12), where, as an emeritus professor, he still leads a small research group focused on aspects of cell biology, including abnormalities that cause human disease.
He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal College of Pathologists, the Royal Society of Biology, the Higher Education Academy and an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge.
Paul was elected as a Governor of St Albans School in 2015 and served as the Interim Chair of Governors March-September 2021. He chairs the Education Committee.