Madeline Lancaster has been announced as the new Joint Head of the LMB’s Cell Biology Division. Together with Manu Hegde, she will provide oversight of the Division’s research into the molecular organisation of cells. Research themes are varied, including tissue and organ formation, cellular mechanisms behind disease and development of cutting-edge microscopy techniques to better visualise these key processes. Madeline has led a group in the Cell Biology Division for over ten years and is well placed to offer expertise and guidance to help the Division grow.
Madeline commented: “I’m delighted to take on this new challenge and to support the Division as we push the field of cell biology to exciting new frontiers”.
Madeline joined the LMB in 2015 to further develop the applications of cerebral organoids, in vitro brain tissue grown from stem cells which she first developed as a postdoctoral scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA) in Vienna, Austria. At the LMB, her group utilises brain organoids to better understand complex processes, including looking at how the human brain develops and what sets it apart from other animals. To this end, her group has identified a key gene which regulates neural progenitor differentiation in humans, explaining why humans have such large brains compared to other mammals.
Her group also investigates the cellular mechanisms behind uniquely human neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and intellectual disability. She has also applied brain organoids to better understand viruses, including elucidating how SARS-CoV-2 infects brain cells, which may contribute to long-term neurological complications from COVID-19.
Madeline’s research achievements have been recognised with several prizes and awards. These include the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in the Life Sciences category, the Cheryll Tickle Medal from the British Society for Developmental Biology and
the Vallee Scholar Award. In 2019 she joined EMBO’s Young Investigator Programme and was elected a member of EMBO in 2022.
The Cell Biology Division
The Cell Biology Division was created in 1962 as the LMB moved to its new building on the Addenbrooke’s campus and officially adopted the name MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. First headed by Francis Crick, who was later joined by Sydney Brenner, the Division was initially called Molecular Genetics before becoming Cell Biology in 1970. In the decades since, the Division has played host to research on a vast array of topics, including genome mapping of the nematode C. elegans, the structure of cell membranes, pattern formation and nuclear transplantation. Today, the Division continues to foster diverse research topics, including embryo development, disease mechanisms, cellular circadian rhythms and the evolutionary origins of cellular life.
Further references
Madeline’s group page
Cell Biology Division
Scientific Leadership at the LMB