Andrea Brand

Brand was born in the U.S., where her father was an economist at the United Nations in New York. She graduated from the UN International School in New York and in 1977, inspired by the work of Rosalind Franklin, she moved to Britain to study biochemistry at the University of Oxford. She studied at Oxford from 1977 to 1981, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors. From there she went to the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the University of Cambridge. She was there from 1981 to 1986, in which year she was awarded a Ph.D. ==Career and research==

Postdoctoral work She then engaged in postdoctoral research work on yeast transcription at Harvard University, According to the Royal Society, her study of the embryonic nervous system in fruit flies (drosophila melanogaster) “has led to new insights into the biology of neural stem cells, and the ability of neurons to regenerate after damage.” Moreover, Brand “identified a novel role for a key regulator in cell division in controlling the strength of neuronal connections,” which “could help uncover new drug targets in the search for treatments for neural disorders such as Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.” “In earlier work,” the Royal Society has noted, “Dr Brand characterised the first transcriptional silencer and originated the GAL4 system for targeted gene expression during development. The GAL4 system has been adapted for use in many other model organisms; it has had a major influence on developmental biology.” and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) and a Member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation. She was awarded the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award in 2006. Brand was presented with the Special Award of Excellence at the Wellcome Biomedical Imaging Awards in 2001, the Hooke Medal of the British Society of Cell Biology in 2002, and the William Bate Hardy Prize in 2004. She was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2000, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2003, and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2010. In 2006, Brand was presented with the Royal Society's Rosalind Franklin Award, which “recognises excellent scientific research and promotes women in science, engineering and technology.” She was selected for the award in recognition of “her groundbreaking contributions to the fields of gene regulation, developmental biology, cell biology and neurobiology.” Professor Julia Higgins, Vice President of the Royal Society, said: “Dr Andrea Brand is an extremely talented biologist. Her work, connecting molecular genetics to the development and repair of the nervous system, has been of a consistently high standard and is directly relevant to tackling human disease.” Winners of the Rosalind Franklin Award are asked to undertake projects that raise the profile of women in science; Brand fulfilled this obligation by organizing two lecture series, one for schoolchildren and the other for university students, featuring prominent female researchers working in cell and developmental biology. On being informed of the award, Brand said: “I am truly honoured to receive the Rosalind Franklin Award. I was inspired to become a molecular biologist at the age of 15 after reading about Rosalind Franklin's work on solving the structure of DNA.” Her nomination for the Royal Society reads ==Personal life==

Brand has been a “dancer her whole life,” having learned ballet as a child. She later became a gymnast, serving as team captain at Oxford. While living in Boston in the mid-1980s she took a two-week workshop with the Mark Morris Dance Company, spending “2 absolutely fantastic weeks of dancing 7 hours a day, and becoming friends with dancers in the company.” ==References==