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Congratulations to Dr Danuta Jeziorska, named one of the Rising Stars in BioBeat’s ’50 Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness 2018’ report, for supporting innovation from concept to market.

BioBeat has celebrated 50 Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness each year since 2014. The report emphasises the current role of women in leadership, inspiration and innovation, to ensure new technologies and treatments continue to improve UK research, health and society.

Inclusion on this list highlights Danuta’s passion for research translation. In 2015, she co-founded the Oxford branch of Innovation Forum (IFO), a global non-for-profit organisation established “by scientists for scientists” with a mission to accelerate innovative technology development by connecting academics, industry, healthcare and policy makers; and inspiring and nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurially-minded scientists. She led the branch for two years and together with the IFO team, that included many members of the MRC WIMM, provided entrepreneurial training to hundreds of scientists and built a platform for showcasing science and knowledge exchange that continues to bring together hundreds of members of academia, industry, the NHS and policy makers. Currently, she acts as an advisor to the organization, that continues to flourish under Dr Mira Kassouf. Danuta is also very passionate about supporting women in the academic and entrepreneurial ecosystems. She is a member of the MRC WIMM Women in Science Committee that aims to support, encourage and celebrate women scientists and helped form TechTonic, an organisation that supports women in the technology sector, where she is a director.

Danuta’s research, based in the lab of Prof Doug Higgs at the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, focuses on understanding how genes are turned on and off during red blood cell formation and how aberration in this process lead to disease. Her work in the lab contributed to a general model of how transcription acts as a primary determinant of the patterns of CpG islands’ methylation during differentiation, and in human disease (Jeziorska et al., 2017). She also developed an experimental model that allows her to visualize transcription of the well-characterised alpha-globin gene in real-time within individual living cells. Using this model, she is investigating the dynamics of transcription at different stages of erythropoiesis.   

I am thrilled to be named as one of the Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness 2018, alongside such an amazing group of 50 women. As a scientist, I believe that translating academic discoveries is a sequential and essential step of maximising their impact on the society. I am excited to know that my work as part of IFO and TechTonic’ has been recognised for supporting this process.” - Danuta Jeziorska

BioBeat Founder Miranda Weston-Smith said: “Congratulations to the outstanding women leaders who are recognised as the 50 Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness 2018. They are changing what is possible for the benefit of humanity and helping to build a more inclusive, responsive healthcare ecosystem – whether that’s by developing revolutionary products, shaping bioscience through investment, accelerating the innovation pipeline, transforming patient access to healthcare or supporting innovation from concept to market.”

Jane Osbourn, Vice-President Research and Development at MedImmune, which supported the report, comments: “On behalf of the numerous partners and supporters of the 50 Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness 2018 report, we are delighted to celebrate the achievements of this group of talented women. We hope shining a spotlight on these female leaders will support them to forge stronger networks and realise new opportunities to improve patient health.“