Professor Maddy Parsons Awarded Biochemical Society Award

Professor Maddy Parsons has been awarded the Industry and Academic Collaboration Award by the Biochemical Society as part of its annual awards.

The annual awards recognize established researchers and early career scientists who exemplify the very best of the bioscience community.

The Industry and Academic Collaboration Award recognizes an outstanding individual who has made an inspirational contribution to the biosciences and to industry–academia interactions. This award aims to recognize the achievements of an early to mid-career scientist who is within 20 years of PhD completion.

Maddy Parsons is a Professor of Cell Biology and the newly-appointed academic lead for Research and Impact for the School of Basic & Medical Biosciences. Her lab is part of the cell motility and cytoskeleton section in the Randall Centre for Cell & Molecular Biophysics. Research in her lab focuses on how cells translate their external environment into internal signalling changes and how this in turn helps to co-ordinate responses such as cell adhesion, migration or division in both healthy and disease contexts.

(An image of a human breast cancer cell expressing GFP-actin undergoing invasion through a collagen matrix (labelled red) showing black trail behind the cell where the matrix has been degraded.)

Of the award Maddy said: “Collaboration is a really important part of my research, and something I am passionate about, so receiving this award really means a great deal to me. I am extremely privileged to have worked with some fabulous collaborators across many disciplines - this award is shared with all of them!”

Professor Colin D Bingle, Chair of the Biochemical Society Awards Committee, said:

“The Biochemical Society Awards are the perfect way to honour exceptional scientists within the bioscience community every stage of their careers. As ever the standard of the nominees was exceptionally high and our winners can be justifiably proud of their achievements. The awards are a real tribute to the talent within the bioscience community. On behalf of the Society, I’d like to congratulate all of the winners, every one of whom has made outstanding contributions in their respective fields. Well done.”

Maddy will be invited to give her Award Lecture at the Biochemical Society conference in 2019 and to submit an article to a Biochemical Society publication.  Congratulations Maddy.