Edith Heard, EMBL: 7 September

Title: Epigenetics and it’s contributions to phenotypic variation within and between individuals: lessons from the X chromosome

Biography: Professor Edith Heard obtained her PhD from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (later Cancer Research UK), London. Thereafter, she spent nine years at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, before undertaking a one-year sabbatical at Cold Spring Harbor in the USA. In 2001, she set up her group at the Institut Curie and in 2010 became Director of the Institute’s Genetics and Developmental Biology Unit. Edith was appointed as a Professor of the Collège de France in 2012, holding the Chair of Epigenetics and Cellular Memory. In January 2019, Edith started as Director General of EMBL.

Edith’s group was among the first to show that the epigenetic process of X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), whereby one of a female’s two X chromosomes is silenced during development, is remarkably dynamic. Much of her lab’s work has focused on X inactivation and the epigenetic changes that accompany this process in early development and particularly on exploring the mechanisms that trigger and stably maintain the silencing of an entire chromosome. Her interest in epigenetics has led her to reflect on the impact of the environment on phenotypes and on biodiversity, together with genetic variation, as well as the extent to which there is inter- and trans-generational epigenetic inheritance in different species.

Edith and her laboratory have been recognised by many prizes, most recently the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award, the Hansen Family Award, the Karl Bonhoeffer Award, Inserm Grand Prix, the European Society for Human Genetics Award and the Prix René et Andrée Duquesne of la Ligue contre le cancer. Edith is an Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College, at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of the Royal Society, an EMBO Member, a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (US), an International Member of the National Academy of Medicine (US), a Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, a Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy in Denmark, a member of Elected member of Académie des sciences, Institut de France, and she has an Honorary Degree Doctor of Science Honoris causa at the University of Cambridge and an Honorary Professor Degree at the University of Heidelberg. Edith has participated in numerous scientific boards and is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the CNRS (France), the BRIC (Copenhagen, Denmark), the IMBB (Crete, Greece), the Crick Institute (London, UK) and the WHO Science Council.

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