Ragnhildur Þóra Káradóttir, professor at Cambridge University and the University of Iceland’s Faculty of Medicine, has been elected as a Member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) for research excellence and exceptional achievements to the fields of myelin biology, regeneration and brain plasticity. Among EMBO members are over 90 Nobel Laureates.
EMBO is an organisation of researchers that promotes excellence and collaboration in the life sciences in Europe and beyond. Established in 1964, its major goals are to support talented researchers at all stages of their careers, stimulate the exchange of scientific information, and help build a research environment where scientists can achieve their best work. It co-funds courses, workshops and conferences and publishes five scientific journals. EMBO has over 2,200 Members and Associate Members in Europe and worldwide, and elected as Members are those who have demonstrated excellence in research.
New members are selected through an annual nomination and election process, ensuring that EMBO Members continue to represent diverse research areas and emerging trends in the life sciences. Ragnhildur is among over 70 scientists from 23 countries elected as EMBO Members this year. The members guide the execution of all EMBO initiatives by serving on the EMBO Council, Committees and Advisory Editorial Boards, and by reviewing applications for funding. Collectively, the Members influence the direction of science and strengthen research communities across Europe.
Ragnhildur, completed her bachelor’s degree in physiology at the University of Iceland in 2000 and a PhD in neurophysiology from University College London in 2006. She is a Group Leader at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, and Director of the MS Society Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair. She was an associate professor at the University of Oslo from 2012 to 2018 and has held a professorship at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Iceland since 2018. She has received numerous international awards and research grants for her scientific work.
Ragnhildur´s research is mainly in the field of neurophysiology with a special emphasis on myelin. It is the main component of the brain's white matter, and damage to it plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. Ragnhildur has published nearly 70 peer-reviewed articles in international scientific journals, including many of the most distinguished, such as Science and journals within the Nature publishing group. Recently, a team led by Ragnhildur published an article in Nature stating that damage to white matter in the brain can trigger features associated with neurodegenerative disease.The study challenges a common assumption about brain inflammation, which is typically viewed as harmful, but the team found that this transient response is part of a repair process in the brain.
“I am delighted to be elected to EMBO. I have been fortunate to work in an outstanding scientific environment and with exceptional PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, research staff and collaborators. This recognition reflects the collective effort of many people, and I hope it will help support our work to understand how myelin is formed, remodelled and regenerated, and how these processes shape brain function in health and disease, ultimately leading to novel therapeutic strategies for neurological diseases,” says Ragnhildur.
Ragnhildur is the fourth Icelander and the first Icelandic woman to be elected as an EMBO Member. Earlier, Guðmundur Eggertsson, professor emeritus (elected in 1984), Eiríkur Steingrímsson, professor at the Faculty of Medicine (elected in 2004), and Kári Stefánsson, founder and former CEO of deCODE genetics (elected in 2005), have been elected Members of EMBO.
The EMBO Members' Meeting, a formal welcome and celebration of new members, will take place in Heidelberg, Germany, in the autumn.
