Professor Pia Ostergaard, Professor of Human Genetics & Head of Genetics Research Centre at St George’s Medical School
My Daphne Jackson Fellowship enabled me to return to scientific research and I am extremely grateful to the Trust for my fellowship and everything that has happened after it! My fellowship gave me the unique ability to work part-time and flexibly at the time when my children were young, which meant I could retrain in a different field and fulfil my career potential but also be there to care and support my family when they needed me.”
Pia’s research into lymphoedema, a defect in the lymphatic system that leads to swelling in the limbs and body, began with her Daphne Jackson Fellowship in 2005, hosted at St. George’s, University of London and funded by the Medical Research Council.
After finishing her fellowship in 2007, Pia stayed on and was awarded two further part-time fellowships from the British Skin Foundation and the British Heart Foundation, continuing her research into the genetics of primary lymphoedema on a part-time basis. Pia was promoted to lecturer in Human Genetics at 2013, and in 2020 she became a Professor of Human Genetics & Head of Genetics Research Centre at St George’s University of London, now City St George’s University of London.