Congratulations to Professor Helen Skaer who has been awarded the prestigious British Society for Developmental Biology Waddington Medal.
The Waddington Medal is the only national award in Developmental Biology. It honours outstanding research performance as well as services to the subject community.
Professor Skaer said she was ‘thrilled to be joining the illustrious band of Waddington medal winners.’
Until her retirement in 2015, Helen Skaer was Professor of Developmental Biology here. As well as conducting ground-breaking research, she was a dedicated and generous teacher. She is honoured for ‘fundamental discoveries which have helped shape our understanding of organogenesis' as well as 'her impressive range of teaching and outreach activities which have inspired countless others’. Her past students include Dr Helen Weaver who recently won the Women in Cell Biology Early Career Medal.
The Waddington medal citation goes on to say, 'Helen’s innovation and determination shine through in both her research and teaching successes. A standout example is from the late 80’s, when Helen demonstrated that the large cells at the tip of the developing renal tubules are mitogenically active, by dissecting open Drosophila embryos and ablating these single cells manually. As students, we loved to hear about Helen ablating renal tubule tip cells by sucking them up finely pulled capillary tubes – it inspired us to think outside the box and believe that anything was possible if you put your mind to it.'