British Society for Developmental Biology

The British Society for Developmental Biology (BSDB) is a scientific society promoting developmental biology research; it is open to anyone with an interest in the subject who agrees with the principles of the Society.[1]

History

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The British Society for Developmental Biology was founded in 1948 as the London Embryologists’ Club. In 1964, the club was expanded into a scientific society, named the Society for Developmental Biology. In 1964, the Society for the Study of Growth and Development in the United States had also voted to take on the same name, and they took over sponsorship of the journal Developmental Biology in 1966. Consequently, the smaller British society changed to its current name in 1969.[2]

Awards

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The society administers four annual awards and a studentship. The Waddington Medal was first awarded in 1998. It is named after C. H. Waddington, a leading British embryologist and geneticist, and is awarded to "an outstanding individual who has made major contributions to any aspect of Developmental Biology in the UK".[3]

Award winners include:

In 2016, the society added the Cheryll Tickle Medal, which is awarded to a mid-career female scientist. It is named after the embryologist Cheryll Tickle, the first winner of the Waddington Medal.[3] Winners include:

  • 2016 Abigail Saffron Tucker
  • 2017 Jenny Nichols
  • 2018 Christiana Ruhrberg
  • 2019 Bénédicte Sanson

The society also has awards for early career scientists: The Beddington Medal is awarded annually for the "best PhD thesis in developmental biology" defended in the year prior to the award; the Dennis Summerbell Lecture is an award that is delivered annually by a junior researcher at either PhD or postdoctoral level; and summer studentships are available for undergraduate students.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "About us – join". British Society for Developmental Biology. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  2. ^ Slack, Jonathan M. W. (2003). "A short history of the British Society for Developmental Biology". International Journal of Developmental Biology. 44 (1): 79–83. PMID 10761851.
  3. ^ a b c "Awards". British Society for Developmental Biology. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  4. ^ Post-award interview with Phil Ingham: http://thenode.biologists.com/an-interview-with-phil-ingham/interview/
  5. ^ Video of Phil Ingham's award lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDMbm4ncrvc&list=UU9KrscRlutJCx2POToj-uLQ
  6. ^ Post-award interview with Lewis Wolpert: http://dev.biologists.org/content/142/15/2547.full
  7. ^ Video of Lewis Wolpert's award lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pAvvGo3np8
  8. ^ Video of Enrico Coen's award lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsbpYDD_Hnw
  9. ^ Blog post about Bill Harris' achievements: http://thenode.biologists.com/waddington2017/societies/
  10. ^ Video of Bill Harris' award lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHJSYP6z6KE&t=443s
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