Evan Reid graduated in Medicine from Glasgow University in 1991 then trained in Medical Genetics in Glasgow and Cambridge. He became interested in the hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs), which are genetic forms of motor neuron degeneration. He completed a PhD in Cambridge studying the genetics of these conditions. After stints as a Wellcome Trust Advanced and then Senior Research Fellow, he became a University Lecturer then Reader at the University of Cambridge.

In 2021 he was appointed Professor of Neurogenetics and Molecular Neurobiology. He is a Principal Investigator at Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, a research institute with a strategic focus on unraveling the mechanisms of rare genetic disease. He is clinically active and runs a specialised neurogenetics clinic at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

His research has encompassed the clinical features, genetics and cell biology of HSPs, but concentrates on understanding the molecular pathology of HSP proteins involved in membrane traffic.