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North East stem cell researchers shortlisted for national award

Three stem cell researchers based in the North East have been shortlisted for a major national award for women who have made significant achievements in their work.Professor Alison Murdoch and Drs Mary Herbert and Majlinda Lako are members of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, a collaboration between Newcastle and Durham Universities, the NHS and other partners. Their pioneering work involving stem cells, which it is hoped will eventually lead to new disease therapies, has seen them being jointly considered as one of three finalists in the science category of the nation’s First Women Awards. The awards, announced at a ceremony in London last night, recognise women who are trailblazers and pioneers - genuine ‘glass ceiling’ breakers. They also recognise women whose achievements and individual actions have helped, or are helping, to remove barriers and open up opportunities for others to follow. Prof Murdoch and Drs Herbert and Lako All three carry out pioneering work involving stem cells which it is hoped will eventually lead to new disease therapies.The North East team was one of the first in the UK to derive a fully-validated embryonic stem cell line and one of the first to be lodged with the UK Stem Cell Bank. They received the UK’s first licence from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) for therapeutic cloning and are the first in the world to successfully obtain an early-stage cloned human embryo using this technique. Professor Michael Whitaker, chairman of the Stem Cell Institute, commented: “It’s an honour for the Institute that Alison, Mary and Linda have had their significant achievements and team work recognised at a national level by being shortlisted for the First Women awards. We look forward to learning the outcome of the judges’ deliberations.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .