SUFFRAGE SCIENCE
Heirloom Passing On Ceremony 2012
SUFFRAGE heirlooms Women In Science: Nurturing Nobels Last year, ten leading women life scientists and communicators were awarded a jewellery heirloom by the Medical Research Council as part of the Suffrage Science project, commemorating 100 years of women pioneers in life science. Tonight they pass their jewellery heirlooms on to younger women scientists and communicators, who they admire, in a bid to encourage them to make their way to the top. We welcome your participation in the ongoing debate surrounding the scarcity of women scientist leaders. We’re very pleased that Vivienne Parry, who helped us launch Suffrage Science last year at the Institute of Contemporary Arts on the centenary of International Women’s Day, will this evening lead the continued discussion.
~1~
Suffrage Heirlooms Jewellery heirlooms and textile designs were created through a competition organised by Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, inspired by pieces worn by women during the suffrage movement before they won the right to vote. The colours green (hope), white (purity) and purple (dignity) characterise each design (see Suffrage Science pages 23-42). The two winning jewellery designs were created by students in their first year of the Jewellery BA at Central Saint Martins. Twelve pieces were hand crafted by Martin Baker and given to women featured in Suffrage Science. They will be passed on every two years.
Design by Benita Gikaite
~2~
Suffrage Heirlooms The pendant design, by Benita Gikaite, is based on a Masonic charm. In her own words, “I have taken this symbol of male power and given it to women.” The solid silver ball pendant opens out into three segments, to reveal key dates including 1903 when Marie Curie became the first woman ever to win a Nobel prize. The pendant cradle features aventurine, pearl and amethyst insets. Anya Malhotra’s brooch design echoes the convex lens of a microscope. Set in silver, the brooch is inscribed with the words Creative, Discovery, Innovation, Invention and Power, and crowned with enamel rings in green, white and purple.
Design by Anya Malhotra
~3~
~ Vivienne Parry Writer and Broadcaster nominates Liz Murchison Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute Cancer is the inevitable outcome of our cells to divide and adapt to their environment. It is not normally a contagious disease, but there are three known exceptions in dogs, Tasmanian devils and Syrian hamsters. Liz studies Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) and canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT). Both are naturally occurring and spread by means of cancer cells themselves passing between individuals. However, they have evolved independently, and affect dogs and devils in different ways. DFTD, spread by biting, has left the Australian population of Tasmanian devils at risk of extinction. CTVT is spread through sexual contact and is prevalent globally in dog populations. It is the oldest known mammalian derived lifeform. Liz hopes to prevent extinction of Tasmanian devils through studying the genetics and evolution of these two diseases. Her research may also have relevance to understanding human cancers.
~4~
Brenda Maddox Biographer nominates Georgina Ferry Science Writer and Biographer
The communication of science is as important as its practice. Scientists are often so busy investigating how things work that little time remains to spread the word about their findings. Science communication has become a professional practice in its own right, and many diverse approaches are now evident in the field of public engagement. Georgina is a science writer and broadcaster, who has worked for New Scientist, presented on BBC Radio 4, and has more recently become interested in the lives of scientists and their interactions with society. Her first biography entitled Dorothy Hodgkin: A Life, pays tribute to Britain’s only female Nobel-prize winning scientist. Following the success of this work, Georgina was commissioned to produce a 40-minute one-woman show by Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Hidden Glory: Dorothy Hodgkin In Her Own Words celebrated Dorothy’s centenary in 2010.
~ ~5~
~ Sarah Blakemore Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL nominates Emily Holmes Institute of Psychiatry, University of Oxford Visual flashbacks or flash-forwards can occur in bipolar and post-traumatic stress (PTSD) disorders. About 1 in every 100 adults has bipolar disorder, which often starts during or after the teenage years. PTSD – a common complication in bipolar patients – can affect people after a traumatic experience such as an accident, physical or sexual assault, combat, disaster, or after witnessing death or injury. Emily’s research aims to develop scientifically-driven clinical innovations to improve the treatment of mental health disorders. New technologies (cognitive science) can be combined with traditional talking therapies (clinical psychology). She has found that mental imagery has a more profound impact on emotion than verbal ideas. Her current work is exploring the theory that overactive mental imagery can lead to extreme emotions and mood fluctuations. She believes that we could in the future develop ‘cognitive vaccines’ to help protect against symptom development in mental health disorders, and promote resilience.
~6~
Helen Fisher Rutgers University, New Jersey nominates Bianca Acevedo Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
Love may make the world go round, but it is a difficult phenomenon to define from a scientific perspective. Within the past few decades, with the rise of internet-dating websites, a whole new science has evolved around relationship studies, and what makes a successful match. Behind the most cuttingedge online dating questionnaires and strategies for matchmaking is a vast field of scientific research. Bianca’s work in the field of social neuroscience focuses on love in close romantic relationships. She is an expert on the neural patterns associated with romantic love and pair-bonding. In the lab and in couples’ homes Bianca has observed patterns that help them keep their relationships thriving. She continues to expand her published work on the brain and behavioral patterns associated with romantic love, friendship, satisfaction, sex, and pair-bonding in long-term and newlywed marriages.
~ ~7~
~ Sohaila Rastan CSO, RNIB nominates Edith Heard Institut Curie, Paris Men and women are genetically distinct. Men characteristically have an X and a Y chromosome within their body cells, whereas women inherit an X chromosome from each parent. Nature accommodates for the discrepancy by silencing one of the X chromosomes within the body cells of female mammals. This generates a mosaic, discernable, for example, in the fur coats of tortoiseshell cats (which are all female). Roughly half the cells in a woman’s body express their father’s X, and the other half are characterized by those inherited from their mother. Edith works on the molecular mechanisms that switch off X chromosomes. A molecule encoded by DNA from the Xist gene (on the X chromosome) is a key player. Molecular tags on histone proteins, around which DNA wraps itself inside the nucleus, influence the accessibility of gene sequences to the machinery that translates genetic information into the functional architecture of the cell.
~8~
Liz Robertson University of Oxford nominates Marysia Placzek MRC Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics, University of Sheffield Deep within the human brain sits a structure roughly the shape and size of an almond. The hypothalamus controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and circadian rhythms. It is the bridge between our nervous and hormonal systems, making brain hormones such as oxytocin and regulating others made by the adjacent pituitary gland. The hypothalamus plays a balancing role facilitated by its sensitivity to external and internal signals. Marysia is interested in how this brain region develops in the embryo. Her research team is exploring how it sends and receives the signals that help it to regulate so many aspects of our biology. She wonders how the mechanisms that control the developing hypothalamus are shared with those that direct development of spinal cord. Her work helps us understand how stem cells mature into the different cell types that underlie the functions of the hypothalamus.
~ ~9~
~ Fiona Watt Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research nominates Christiana Ruhrberg Institute of Ophthalmology, UCL Diabetes can seriously compromise our ability to see, and in severe cases cause blindness. The problem starts with damage to the blood vessels that carry oxygen to the cells in the retina, the light-sensitive cell layer at the back of the eye. The molecular mechanisms that direct blood vessel formation during development and in adult life play a part in disease progression. Pathways that regulate normal blood vessel development in utero also direct wound healing, pregnancy and exercise-induced blood vessel growth in adults. Christiana is researching one such pathway, headed up by a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which affects normal blood vessel growth and plays some part in diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. She also wants to know how VEGF affects nerve cells in the brain, retina and limbs. Elucidating the way it works will inform its potential use as a molecular tool for regenerative medicine.
~10~
Mary Collins MRC/UCL Centre for Medical Molecular Virology nominates Tracey Barrett School of Crystallography, Birkbeck College Viruses are very clever when it comes to reprogramming the genome of their host. They’re at an advantage being made from the same stuff: nucleic acid and protein. Kaposi’s Sarcoma Herpes virus, the main cause of AIDS-related cancer, and Human T-cell Leukaemia Virus (HTLV-1) are both able to mimic human proteins. This allows them to hijack signalling pathways inside host cells, which compromises the cell’s ability to fight off infection. This molecular sabotage plays into regulatory pathways that are central to many processes within the cell. A protein complex called NF-kappaβ regulates one such pathway. It controls the decoding of genetic information into a form that can be used by the cell to make protein. Viruses can switch on NF-kappaβ pathways when they should be silenced. Tracey’s group are interested in the molecular mechanisms that facilitate stimulation of these pathways. They’re working to uncover the structure of key protein players.
~ ~11~
~ Janet Thornton European Bioinformatics Institute nominates Sarah Tiechmann MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Our body is made up of billions of cells, and researchers have discovered that there are more ‘conversations’ taking place between these cells than we could ever imagine. Scientists have developed computer models to help them elucidate the components of this dialogue and the consequences, for example in immunity. Sarah’s team wants to understand not only how cells work, but how they have evolved over time into what they are today. She analyses gene and protein sequences to learn about their function and their role in cellular conversations. Most of her work uses complex maths to analyse genomic data sets, including protein structures. She’s interested in the bits of proteins that characterize their ability to do something or say something to other molecules, with a view to mapping out how families of proteins have evolved in relation to others, in terms of structure and function.
~12~
Dame Sally Davies Chief Medical Officer for England & Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Health nominates Nicole Soranzo Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute Cardiovascular disease, and particularly coronary artery disease, is the leading global cause of death, killing tens of millions every year. Coronary artery disease occurs when part of the smooth, elastic lining inside a coronary artery stiffens and all sorts of ‘grunge’ accumulates. Calcium, fatty deposits and abnormal inflammatory cells gather to form plaques. By the time that heart problems are detected, the underlying cause is usually quite advanced, having progressed for decades. There is therefore increased emphasis on prevention through healthy eating, exercise and genetic screening. Nicole’s team is scouring the human genome to identify new genetic risk factors for coronary heart disease and heart attack. This research aims to identify the biological and molecular processes underlying cardovasular disease. It is hoped that screening patients in the future will help identify problems early on, so that effective treatments can be delivered before it’s too late.
~ ~13~
Suffrage Textiles
Undergraduate students from Central Saint Martins produced a range of textile and ribbon designs in response to women scientists featured in Suffrage Science (see pages 34–42). Winning designs were created by Kyung Young Jeon who was inspired by Dorothy Hodgkin, the only British woman to win a Nobel Prize for science. Kyung hand-crafted a series of textile bracelets, which were given to speakers at last year’s launch. Uta Frith (Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, UCL), who was on last year’s debate panel at the ICA, this year passes her bracelet on to Francesca Happe (Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London). V V Rouleaux (www.vvrouleaux.com) invited three textile design students to design grosgrain ribbons. This evening, we invite you to wear one of the three designs created by Kyung Young Jeon, Holly Walker and Alix Massieux. Additional lengths of ribbon may be purchased from the Sloane Square shop.
~14~
The Future
A sequel to Suffrage Science will be published on International Women’s Day in 2013, to highlight women leaders in medicine and related physical and engineering sciences, funded by Imperial College Faculty of Medicine. Central Saint Martins will run another competition for their students to create jewellery and textile designs for leading medics and scientists featured in the forthcoming book. Winning designs will be produced and awarded in 2013 for passing on in 2015. Tonight’s heirloom recipients will pass the jewellery on to their own nominated recipients in 2014. “It will be really interesting to see where these heirlooms end up in a few years time,” says Amanda Fisher (Director, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre), pioneer of the scheme.
Event speakers: Vivienne Parry (Broadcaster and Writer) and Elizabeth Murchison (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute) Event host: Nicola Burghall (Science Museum’s Dana Centre) Event organiser: Brona McVittie (Head, Public Engagement, Media & Grants Facility (PEMG), MRC Clinical Sciences Centre). Film crew: Richard Newton (PEMG) and Palladio Films Photographer: Matt Bishop Programme: Designed by Anthony Lewis (PEMG); Edited by Brona McVittie. Printed by the PEMG Facility, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, Hammersmith Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN. Photograph p.1 courtesy Bill Knight.
tracing suffrage heirlooms Follow the provenance of 12 pieces of Suffrage Heirloom Jewellery as they are handed down from leading women in Life Sciences to their protĂŠgĂŠs.
Awarded to:
2011 S. Blakemore M. Collins S. Davies H. Fisher L. Johnson B. Maddox V. Parry S. Rastan E. Robertson J. Thornton F. Watt MRC Clinical Sciences Centre
2012 E. Holmes T. Barrett N. Soranzo B. Acevedo TBC G. Ferry E. Murchison E. Heard M. Placzek S. Tiechmann C. Ruhrberg F. B. Sinoussi
2014
~16~
2016
Thursday 8 March 2012 19.00 - 21.00 Science Museum’s Dana Centre