4 minute read
Anne Ferguson-Smith
anne ferguson-smith nominated by nicole soranzo
Anne saw her first chromosome when she was seven years old. Although she didn’t know it then, this experience would colour the rest of her life. “I can still remember that picture: a single human chromosome,” she says. “That was when I developed this love of chromosomes and wonder of inheritance and genetics.” Some time later, she read about recombinant DNA in Scientific American and applied to do Molecular Biology at Glasgow University. Since then her research has made key contributions towards understanding the molecular basis of the epigenetic control of genome function. Earlier this year, she became Head of the Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge, making her the first female Head of Department in the School of Biological Sciences. Nicole Soranzo, who’s passing on the heirloom, says, “Anne’s scientific integrity and enjoyment of science have been a constant source of inspiration for me, and she has been very generous with her time in supporting and mentoring me as well as many other younger scientists.”
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“I’m the first female Head of Department in the School of Biological Sciences at Cambridge – that’s outrageous. The department has six female academic staff members out of 26. We are a small department and women are outnumbered,” says Anne.
The main reason there are fewer senior women in science is because there’s a huge drop off between post-doctoral and permanent positions, which is associated with having children. Anne suggests two ways to overcome this problem. “Firstly, funders should do away with age restrictions for women when they apply for independent fellowships. This would allow them to forge independent careers later in life. In my department, I have extremely competent research scientists who’ve had a couple of kids and are now senior post-docs.”
Restrictive Time Limits
“They would like to go on and drive their own research programmes now that their children are in school, but they can’t because the time limit for applying for fellowships – eight to ten years post PhD – has passed. This was the time these women were having children.” Anne looks forward to seeing more creative programmes to help women get on the independent ladder, like The European Molecular Biology Organisation’s (EMBO) Young Investigator Awards. Young researchers can receive this award up to four years after starting their own group, but eligibility is extended for women who have children, so women scientists receive an extra year per child.
The second change Anne highlights, noting that others may not share her opinion, is a
Anne Ferguson-Smith
movement towards more flexible parental policies. When her second child was born, Anne worked in an atmosphere of complete flexibility. She attended academic staff meetings and went into the lab to interact with her group for two or three hours a day to keep up the momentum. But some people tried to tell her that she should be at home with her child. She just ignored them. “I had the attitude that there were no rules; I was going to function in whatever manner worked for me and my daughter, and it only worked for us because my workplace was a flexible one. To be able to do what works for you, and have the support of colleagues who understand this, is really important because you can’t plan for how you’re going to be when you have a child, and every parent and child is different. I also like to see men taking a more active role in childcare and am trying to encourage this in my department.”
An Afterthought
I ask Anne if she has ever been a victim of, or witnessed, gender bias. “I’ve sat on recruitment boards for professorships and women are always in the minority – often just me. You think of people you want to ask if they’d be interested in applying for the job and my lists are mixed in gender. Senior academic men generally come up with all-male lists. Sometimes as an afterthought they identify a woman because they feel that they ought to. There needs to be more than one ‘token woman’ in these committee and board contexts. It’s important to have mixed gender situations where men and women come together and better use others’ strengths and creativity. Indeed bringing senior women together is also very constructive.”
Anne says that this has been evolving during her professional lifetime. “In Cambridge we now have a senior gender equality network that consists predominantly of women and our interactions are refreshingly useful and strategic. We can take more responsibility for increasing the representation of women in strategic decision-making positions.”
“I can still see it in my mind: a single human chromosome just sitting in a field under the microscope. My father is a medical geneticist – and he ran a diagnostic cytogenetics lab – and he told me that all inherited information was carried on chromosomes like that. I thought that was awesome.”
