About me:

Sarah Richardson is a Professor of Cellular Biomedicine in the Islet Biology Exeter (IBEx) team, is a Co-Director of Postgraduate Research (PGR) for the Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences. She is passionate about Type 1 diabetes (T1D) and Team Science. She has held prestigious Fellowships from the Wellcome Trust, the Diabetes Research Wellness Foundation, a the JDRF 5-year Career Development Award, and most recently a Steve Morgan Foundation Grand Challenge Senior Research Fellowship. Her research utilises cohorts of T1D pancreas samples and is centred around developing a clearer understanding of the processes by which beta cells are targeted and destroyed. She curates the Exeter Archival Diabetes Biobank which contains the rarest collection of recent-onset T1D pancreata. She was the first recipient of the network of Pancreatic Organ Donors (nPOD) Junior Investigator Award, awarded for being a champion of collaborative spirit and data sharing, and was a Diabetes UK Innovators in Diabetes participant. She has Chaired the JDRF-UK Scientific Advisory Council, and been a Diabetes UK Research Studies Group member. She sits on the UK T1D Research Consortium (UK T1D-RC) management board and the network of Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes Tissue Prioritisation Committee. 

Interests:

Dr Richardson gives an overview of her research into the role enteroviruses may have in causing Type 1 diabetes in the video below, filmed at the Living Systems Symposium 2016.

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Qualifications:

1999 - 2002 University of Sheffield. British Heart Foundation PhD Studentship

’The role of death receptors in endothelial cell apoptosis" Division of Genomic Medicine, Awarded January 2003.

1995 - 1999 University of Sheffield BSc(Hons) Molecular Biology 1st Class

Work experience year in industry and academia between Yr 2 and Yr 3.

Career:

2023 to date Steve Morgan Foundation Grand Challenge Senior Research Fellow (0.9 FTE)

09/22 to date Director of PGR for Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences (0.1 FTE)

2019 to date Associate Professor in Cellular Biomedicine

University of Exeter Medical School (1.0 FTE)

Research – The immunopathology of human type 1 and type 2 diabetes

08/20 - 09/22 Associate Director of PGR for CMH (0.1 FTE)

2017 to 2019 University of Exeter Medical School

Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences (Education & Research)

Research – The immunopathology of human type 1 and type 2 diabetes

2013 to 2017 University of Exeter Medical School

Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences (Education & Research)

Research – The immunopathology of human type 1 and type 2 diabetes

2007 - 2012 Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, Plymouth UK

Post-doctoral Research Fellow

Research – The immunopathology of human type 1 and type 2 diabetes

2005 - 2006 Department of Haematology, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth UK

Post-doctoral Research Scientist

Studied the role of ZAP-70 in B cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL) and the mechanism of action of immunomodulatory drugs in Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)

2004 Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne, Australia

Post-doctoral Research Scientist

Wellcome Trust International Travelling Fellowship

Regulation of apoptosis by Bcl2 family members

2003 Department of Haematology, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth UK

Post-doctoral Research Scientist

1998 University College London

Summer Placement Student (self-initiated)

1997 - 1998 Pfizer Global Research and Development, Sandwich, UK

Industrial trainee (1year; self-initiated)