Irene Tracey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Irene Tracey CBE FRS FMedSci MAE FRCA
Irene Tracey giving her admission speech on becoming Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University in 2023.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 January 2023
Chancellor	The Lord Patten of Barnes The Lord Hague of Richmond
Preceded by	Louise Richardson
Personal details
Born	Irene Mary Carmel Tracey (1966-10-30) 30 October 1966 (age 58) Oxford, England
Spouse	Myles Allen ​ (m. 1994)​
Children	3
Education	Merton College, Oxford (MA, DPhil)
Known for	Vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford
Awards	Suffrage Science award (2014) Feldberg Prize (2017)
Scientific career
Fields	Neuroscience
Institutions	University of Oxford Harvard University
Thesis	MRS and biochemical studies on animal models of human disease (1993)
Doctoral advisor	Jeffrey F. Dunn

Irene Tracey (born 30 October 1966) is a leading British scientist who studies the brain. She is currently the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, which means she is the head of the entire university. Before this, she was the head of Merton College, Oxford.

Professor Tracey is also a specialist in how anaesthetics (medicines that make you sleep during surgery) affect the brain. Her team's research focuses on understanding pain and how our brains react to it. They also study how anaesthetics change our consciousness. They use special brain scanning methods to do their research.

Early Life and Education

Irene Tracey was born in Oxford, England. She went to St. Thomas More R.C. Primary School and Gosford Hill School. She then studied biochemistry at Merton College, Oxford. She earned top grades and won a special prize as an undergraduate student.

For her advanced studies, she was a prize student at Merton College. Her research looked at how magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could be used to study diseases in people. MRI is a way to see inside the body using strong magnets and radio waves.

Her Career Journey

After finishing her studies, Professor Tracey worked as a researcher at Harvard Medical School in the United States. There, she used special imaging techniques to understand brain conditions. During this time, she became very interested in studying pain, which became her main research area.

In 1997, Tracey returned to Oxford. She helped start the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB). This center, now called the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, studies how the brain works. She led this center from 2005 to 2015.

She became a university lecturer in 2001 and later a professor. From 2007 to 2019, she was a Nuffield Chair in Anaesthetic Sciences. In 2016, she became the head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences.

Leading Merton College

In 2017, Irene Tracey was chosen to be the next head, or "Warden," of Merton College, Oxford. She officially started this role in October 2019. She was the 51st person to hold this important position at the college.

Leading Oxford University

In May 2022, it was announced that Professor Tracey would become the next Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. She started this big role in January 2023. As Vice-Chancellor, she leads the entire university.

In her first major speech in October 2023, she talked about the importance of free speech at the university. She also addressed discussions and protests that happened on campus in 2024. She emphasized the university's commitment to supporting all its students.

Professor Tracey has also served on many important science committees. She is a strong supporter of women in science and works to make universities more welcoming for everyone.

Her Brain Research

Professor Tracey's research focuses on understanding how our brains create the feeling of pain. She wants to find scientific ways to measure pain, which is usually a very personal experience.

Her team uses fMRI brain scans to find out which parts of the brain are involved in pain. They study how we feel pain, how we expect to feel pain, and why different people experience the same pain differently. They also look at how pain relief treatments work and how beliefs can affect pain.

One key discovery is that pain is not just a simple reaction to an injury. It's a complex process that involves our thoughts and feelings. As Professor Tracey says, pain is "sensitive to various mental processes such as the feelings and beliefs that someone has." Her goal is to better understand long-lasting pain and find new ways to diagnose and treat it.

Awards and Recognitions

Professor Tracey has received many awards for her important work.

• In 2008, she won the Patrick Wall Medal from the Royal College of Anaesthetists.
• In 2014, she received the Suffrage Science award.
• In 2015, she became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).
• In 2017, she won the Feldberg Foundation prize.
• In 2018, she received the Outstanding Contribution to Neuroscience award from the British Neuroscience Association.
• In 2020, she became a Member of the Academia Europaea (MAE).
• In 2022, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to medical research. She received this honor from Charles III in November 2022.
• In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), which is a very high honor for scientists.

Sharing Science with Everyone

Professor Tracey believes in sharing scientific knowledge with the public. She has appeared on radio shows like BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind.

She has also created and presented radio programs about pain:

• From Agony to Analgesia (2017)
• The Anatomy of Pain (2018)

Her work has been featured in BBC Horizon TV documentaries and at the Science Museum, London. She has given public talks at science festivals and written articles for magazines like New Scientist and BBC Science Focus. She was also interviewed by Jim Al-Khalili for The Life Scientific on BBC Radio 4.

Personal Life

Irene Tracey is married to Myles Allen, a climate physicist. They got married in 1994 and have three children.