WiSETI Annual Lecture

This year’s speaker is the distinguished neuroscientist, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell FRS, Vice-President for Research and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Manchester. She holds a Medical Research Council Research Chair and her current research focuses on the role of inflammation in brain disease.

The title of Professor Rothwell’s talk is ‘Advice from a not so young scientist’ and she will be talking about her life in neuroscience. This free lecture, which is open to all, will be chaired by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Alison Richard and will start at 5pm in the Auditorium, Robinson College, Grange Road.

Her early research identified mechanisms of energy balance regulation, obesity and cachexia. Cachexia is loss of weight, muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness and significant loss of appetite in someone who is not actively trying to lose weight and can be a sign of various underlying disorders, for example, cancer and some autoimmune disorders. Her current research focuses on the role of inflammation in brain disease and has identified the role of the cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) in diverse forms of brain injury. Her recent studies have begun to elucidate the mechanisms regulating IL-1 release and its action, and her group has conducted the first early clinical trial of an IL-1 inhibitor in stroke. She has recently served as president of the British Neuroscience Association, a council member of MRC, BBSRC and Cancer Research UK.

Professor Rothwell currently oversees a research group of about 20 scientists, with significant external funding, and is Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Manchester. She is a member of the Royal Society Council, Vice President of the Royal Society, Chair of the Royal Society Education Committee, President of the Biosciences Federation, and a non-executive director of Astrazeneca. In 2003 she won the prestigious Pfizer Research Prize, in 2004 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 2005 was honoured with a DBE.

She takes a strong and active interest in public communication of science and regularly gives talks to schools and the public and contributes to television, radio and press, particularly on sensitive issues in science. In 1998 she delivered the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, televised by the BBC.

WiSETI works to improve the recruitment, retention and promotion of women in science, engineering and technology (SET) in the University of Cambridge through a variety of measures, including the Annual Lecture by a distinguished woman scientist, facilitating networking and promoting good practice.

Additionally, to celebrate International Women's Day on 8 March, the Cambridge & Diversity project is highlighting the story of Phillipa Fawcett, the first woman to come above the 'Senior Wrangler' in the Mathematics tripos exam in 1890, when the subject was still considered inappropriate for women. Her success not only highlighted the intellectual capability of women but also brought further attention to the suffragette cause. 

Developed by Equality and Diversity, and supported by the 2009 Fund, the 'Cambridge and Diversity' project provides an opportunity to discover how the University of Cambridge has embraced the challenge of accepting differences over its 800 year history. During 2009 the project will showcase the profiles of current and past, students and staff from a variety of backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, religions, sexualities and ages.

The story is available from the Cambridge & Diversity web link on the upper right hand side of this page.