mend
Eileen Ingham and Jennifer Nichols meet to discuss the men and women who inspired them
Medical
immunologist
Eileen
Ingham
and
developmental biologist Jennifer Nichols have never met before. Their respective achievements in regenerative medicine have brought them them in somewhat different communities, in conversation it becomes apparent that they share similar experiences and views on women in science and why there aren’t more at the top of the academic ladder. Eileen Ingham investigates repair of the body’s complex machinery at the University of Leeds. Using novel tissue engineering technology she develops techniques to patch up blood vessels in a bid to tackle cardiovascular disease. Her work explores the immune system’s reaction to
Eileen Ingham
various manmade substances, with the aim of developing superior materials for prosthetic joint
could reduce the number of mice used in research
replacements.
to study diseases such as diabetes. Prosthetics and stem cell biology both form part of stem
cells
is
paramount
to
yielding
Biological Beginnings
their
restorative properties. Jennifer Nichols, based
Both Eileen and Jenny’s love of science developed
at the Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council
early, nurtured in environments at home and
Stem Cell Institute, probes how stem cells are assigned in the embryo researching ways to
can’t ever remember being discouraged at all.
replicate this in the lab. Her investigations have
I was encouraged by family, encouraged by my
yielded a technique to generate stem cells, which
teachers at school, it was always very positive,”
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