Patricia "Pat" Simpson FRS is a distinguished British developmental biologist. Simpson was a professor of Comparative Biology at the University of Cambridge from 2003 to 2010, and was the University's Director of Research for the academic year 2010/2011. She is currently an Emeritus Professor of the Department of Zoology of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, having previously been Professor of Comparative Embryology, and a Fellow of Newnham College. She was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 2000. Patricia Simpson graduated with her PhD in 1976 from Universite de Paris VI,

Pierre and Marie Curie University Pierre and Marie Curie University (french: link=no, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, UPMC), also known as Paris 6, was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussi ...

. Her research interests include organismal biology, evolution, and ecology, and she is distinguished for her work on insect development and evolution. Specifically, her research explores the pattern formation of sensory bristles in fruit flies. Her first major discovery was that pattern formation and growth of fly bristles are regulated by the same mechanism. By a study of genetic mosaics she demonstrated that cells develop into particular structures by means of local interactions with their neighbours. She has made major contributions to the understanding of the process of lateral inhibition, whereby initially equivalent cells interact between themselves and subsequently adopt different fates. This process involves a conserved cellular receptor and is equally important in mammals; the work can be related to studies on human development and disease.

Awards

* 1993: Silver medal of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifque, France * 1993: She was elected as the member of the EMBO * 2000:

*2008: Waddington Medal of the British Society of Developmental Biology *2012: Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

*2016: Honorary Fellowship from Newnham College, Cambridge

References

External links

"Patricia Simpson"
''Google Scholar'' Living people British women biologists 20th-century British biologists 20th-century British women scientists 21st-century British biologists 21st-century British women scientists Pierre and Marie Curie University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Female Fellows of the Royal Society Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellows {{UK-scientist-stub