Rate My Professor Sarah Bray

Professor Sarah Bray is Professor of Developmental Biology and Joint Head of the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Cambridge. She joined the Department of Anatomy, a predecessor to PDN, in 1991 as the first female faculty member and established her research group in the 1990s. Her research focuses on the Notch signalling pathway, elucidating how cells decode Notch signals to coordinate development, maintain stem cells, ensure tissue homeostasis, and how dysregulation contributes to diseases such as cancers and dementia. Using Drosophila and human cell models, her lab employs live-imaging, genetics, biochemistry, and genomics to investigate enhancer dynamics, chromatin remodelling, promoter interactions, and the influence of tissue mechanics on signalling.

Bray's key contributions include seminal reviews such as "Notch Signalling: a simple pathway becomes complex" (Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 2006) and "Notch Signalling in Context" (Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 2016), which have shaped the field. Notable publications encompass studies on Notch-responsive enhancers (Developmental Cell, 2019), Mi-2/NuRD complex in stem cells (eLife, 2019), and OptIC-Notch mechanisms (Development, 2023). A Wellcome Trust Investigator and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (elected 2015), she has held leadership roles including Chair of the EMBO Fellowship Committee (2014-2017), European Research Council panel chair, Head of PDN for nearly five years, and since 2023, Chair of The Company of Biologists Board of Directors. Her work has significantly influenced understanding of gene regulation and developmental signalling.