Edith Heard

Edith Heard (born 1965) is a British researcher in epigenetics. She is a Professor at the Collège de France, holding the Chair of Epigenetics and Cellular Memory, and the Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) since January 2019. From 2010 to 2018, Heard was the Director of the Genetics and Developmental Biology department at the Curie Institute (Paris), France. Heard is noted for her studies of X chromosome inactivation.
Education.
Heard graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Natural Sciences (Genetics) from the University of Cambridge as a student of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, graduating in 1986. She was awarded a PhD from Imperial College London for research investigating gene amplification in rat cells in 1990 while working at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratory in London, UK. in 2000, she took a one-year sabbatical at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Career and research.
Heard's main areas of research include genetics, epigenetics and developmental biology, in particular focussing on X-chromosome inactivation, which occurs when one of the two copies of the X chromosomes in female mammals is inactivated. Heard and her colleagues confirmed that X-chromosome inactivation happens not once, but twice, during development: first in all cells designated to building the placenta, then again in some cells sent off to build the embryo.
Heard has been a Professor at the Collège de France, holding the Chair of Epigenetics and Cellular Memory, and since 2010 has been director of the Genetics and Developmental Biology department at the Institut Curie in Paris. In 2016, Heard was involved in establishing a Government of France programme to support scientists displaced by war or conflict - the Programme d'aide à l'accueil en urgence des scientifiques en exil (PAUSE). 
In June 2017, Heard's appointment as the fifth Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory was announced, and she took office in January 2019.
Personal Life.
Heard is married to French molecular biologist Vincent Colot. They have two children.
Recognition.
In 2017, Heard was awarded the Inserm Grand Prix for her work on epigenetics. In 2013, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in recognition for her discoveries in epigenetics. Her nomination reads: 
In 2011, Heard received the Grand Prix de la in 2011. In 2009, she received the Prix Jean Hamburger. In 2005, Heard was a laureate of the award. Heard has been an EMBO Member since 2005 and won the Suffrage Science award in 2012. She received the European Society for Human Genetics Award in 2017 
In 2020, she was awarded the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards and in April 2021 was appointed a member of the World Health Organization Science Council, and also elected as an international member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. 
Heard is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the French National Centre for Scientific Research , and the Francis Crick Institute . 