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- Honorary Members -
Catherine Verfaillie
Catherine Verfaillie is professor of Medicine at the Catholic
University of Leuven, Belgium, and of the University of Minnesota's
Stem Cell Institute, USA (http://www.stemcell.umn.edu/), of which she
was the director from 1999 to 2006. A keen athlete, Catherine
Verfaillie initially considered a career in sports, but diverted to
medical school in the KULeuven in 1976, after which she specialised in
internal medicine, more specifically in hematology. Now, her research
focuses on transplantation of bone marrow, and on blood stem cells.
Catherine Verfaillie says:
“… To be succesful as a scientist, irrespective of
gender, a lot of hard work needs to go in and few, if any,
organizations that review proposals for grants, papers take into
account personal circumstances, which are usually much more complicated
for women scientists than men.”
“Many of my colleagues are women and have successful research
careers and family lives. Young female students should not despair and
… beat the bushes to be as successful as their male
colleagues.”
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