Interview with 2019 Hooke medal winner Eugenia Piddini

Abstract

ABSTRACT Eugenia Piddini studied at the University of Palermo, Italy, before moving to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, for her PhD on the role of motor proteins in cell shape changes under the supervision of Carlos Dotti. Her postdoctoral work was carried out with Jean-Paul Vincent at the National Institute for Medical Research (now part of the Crick Institute, London). There, Eugenia worked on morphogen gradients during Drosophila development and later turned to understanding the mechanisms of cell competition. She became a group leader at the Gurdon Institute, Cambridge, UK, in 2010, to investigate the mechanisms of cell competition in homeostasis and in a tumour–host-cell context. In 2016, Eugenia moved to the University of Bristol, UK, as a Senior Research Fellow and was appointed Professor one year later. She is the recipient of the 2019 Hooke medal, established to recognize an emerging leader in cell biology. The Hooke medal is awarded at the annual spring meeting of the British Society for Cell Biology (BSCB).