11 Mar 08

Professor Dame Kay Davies' portrait is shown at the UKRC exhibition

Professor Dame Kay Davies, Dr Lee’s Professor of Anatomy and Fellow of Hertford College, has been honoured today as a 'Woman of Outstanding Achievement'. Her photograph is being shown at the annual  photographic exhibition at the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC).

Now in its third year, the Women of Outstanding Achievement in SET Photographic Exhibition is designed to profile pioneering women in science, engineering and technology (SET) – a sector in which only 18.5 per cent of employees are female. The aim is to create a growing collection of portraits that will act as inspirational images to encourage other women to start and progress in a career within SET.

Professor Davies was chosen as one of six women from 125 nominations by a high profile judging panel from the world of SET, government and industry. She was honoured for her discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. She has conducted extensive research into a common genetic muscular disease called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Her research group has an international reputation and in the 1980s she developed a test which allowed for the screening of foetuses whose mothers have a high risk of carrying DMD.

At the University of Oxford Professor Davies is Director of the Medical Research Council functional genetics unit, Co-Director of the Oxford Centre for Gene Function, and a member of the Department for Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics.

Professor Davies is a founding Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2003, and was made a Dame of the British Empire (DBE) for services to science in the 2008 New Year Honours.

She is a Wellcome Trust governor and an Executive Editor of the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

Professor Davies also has considerable experience of biotechnology companies as a conduit for translating the results of experimental science into new therapeutics and diagnostics. She co-founded one biotechnology company (Summit plc, formerly VASTox plc) and is a director of one other company. She is a member of the Technology Transfer Challenge Committee at the Wellcome Trust. 

Professor Davies said: ‘It’s important that women in SET come together to gain confidence – if women are given female role models, they can see that it’s possible to succeed in the field. Science can benefit society in so many ways and through my research into DMD, I have the opportunity to touch the lives of families who live with the condition. I’m proud to have my achievements recognised by the UKRC and hope it will show other women what is possible.’