Dr. Nancy J. Lane Dr. Nancy J. Lane is a scientist in Cell Biology at Cambridge University where she lectures and does research in the Zoology Department. She is currently Project Director of the University's Initiative for Women in Science. Born in Nova Scotia, Canada, Dr. Lane took her doctoral degree at Oxford University after which she carried out post doctoral research studies in the U.S.A., first at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine and then in Yale University's Biology Department. Returning to the U.K., she joined a neurobiological research unit in the Zoology Department of Cambridge University where she became a Senior Principal Scientific officer and is now a Senior Research Associate. She is an Official Fellow at Griton College, where she is also a Lecturer in cell biology and was for many years the tutor for research and graduate students in science. Dr. Lane has been awarded a higher doctorate in science from Cambridge University for her research activities; she has also been given an honorary doctorate of Law from the University of Dalhousie, in Nova Scotia, Canada, and an honorary D. Sc. From Salford University. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Biology, as well as of various other scientific bodies, serves on the Council of the Zoological Society of London for which she is now a Vice-President, and was Editor-in-Chief of the journal Cell Biology International for 3 years. Nancy has published widely, with over 200 papers in the fields of cellular and neuro-biology, and is an international authority on the ways in which the cells of invertebrate organisms interact with one another. She has held visiting Professorships at a variety of Universities in Europe and South America, and has ongoing collaborative research activities with King's College London, with the National Institute on Ageing at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and with Italy's Padova and Siena Universities. Dr. Lane was appointed by the then Prime Minister to his 6-member Citizen's Charter Advisory Panel in 1991, where she was given special responsibility for educational matters. As a result, she was asked to chair the Working Party on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) for the Cabinet Office, which published a report, The Rising Tide, in 1994; this led to the instigation of a Development Unit in the Office of Science and Technology (OST) to carry forward its recommendations to encourage greater participation of women in SET. Nancy has subsequently served on a variety of Committees for Opportunity 2000, and spoken at British Council, SHEFC, IPMS, EU and other Conferences to raise the profile of women in SET. She chaired the Committee that produced Cracking It!, and currently serves on the CVCP's Commission on University Career Opportunities (CUCO) as well as the Room at the Top Committee for CUCO/UCoSDa; she is also a member of UNESCO's Scientific committee for Women in Science and Technology. Dr. Lane has lectured widely on issues related to the problems confronting women scientists and how to overcome them, and recently was involved in setting up the HEFCE/OST/CUCO/SHEFC Athena Project for women SET, upon whose Steering Committee she now serves as Deputy Chair. In 1999 she was appointed Director of the New Cambridge University Women in SET Initiative, a scheme to increase the access of girls into science, and to improve the participation and progression of women in SET at Cambridge. She is a Non-Executive Director for the international health care company of Smith and Nephew plc, for whom she chairs an external Scientific Advisory Panel. Married, with two children, she was awarded an OBE in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to science. Dr. Lane has links with the world of the arts and is a Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society of the Arts). She works towards raising the public understanding of science (PAWS) both by writing and giving public lectures. In 1999 she was British council's Visiting Lecturer for this New Zealand and Australia. She has also presented at the Cheltenham Literary Festival, has appeared with Melvyn Bragg on Radio 4's Start the Week, and has been interviewed by Susannah Simons on Classic FM's Master of their Art. She has served on the Boards both of Chicken Shed's inclusive theatre group and the dance/opera/theatre company. Second Stride. For over a year she was a member of the SWET (Society of West End Theatres) Lawrence Olivier Award panel and wrote the judges' summarizing commentary for publication in the SWET annual report. She currently serves as an Adviser to Wysing Arts, an Eastern England Art Centre, on PAWS initiatives such as Wider View and In Your Head which are collaborative ventures between scientists and artists. She is also a judge for the Science/Art Competitions in 1999/2000 put on by the Welcome Trust and by the Gulbenkian Foundation. Department of Zoology Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3EJ Nancy J. Lane OBE D. Phil,.Sc.D.,LLD(Hon), D.Sc. (Hon), F.I. Biol. Tel: 01223 330116 (messages 336600) Fax: 01223 330116 E-mail: njfl@cam.ac.uk Web: www.zoo.cam.ac.uk