Philip Ingham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Philip Ingham
FRS FMedSci FRSB
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| Head, Department of Life Sciences, University of Bath | |
| Assumed office 2023 |
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| Professor of Developmental Biology, Nanyang Technological University | |
| In office 2006–2023 |
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| Professor of Developmental Biology, Imperial College London | |
| In office 2013–2016 |
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| Professor of Developmental Genetics, University of Sheffield | |
| In office 1996–2009 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Philip William Ingham
19 March 1955 Liverpool, England |
| Died | Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day |
| Occupation | Geneticist |
Philip William Ingham (born 19 March 1955, Liverpool) is a British geneticist. He is a leading expert in how living things develop. Currently, he is a special professor at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore. This school is a partnership between Nanyang Technological University and Imperial College, London.
Before this, he was the first Director of the Living Systems Institute at the University of Exeter in the UK. He also served as Vice Dean for Research at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.
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Philip Ingham's Journey in Science
Philip Ingham went to school at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby near Liverpool. Later, he studied at Queens' College, Cambridge. He first studied Philosophy and Theology, but then changed to Genetics.
He earned his PhD from the University of Sussex. After that, he worked in France as a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1982, he came back to the UK. He joined the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK).
He then worked at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. After that, he returned to Cancer Research UK. He stayed there for ten years. Then, he moved to the University of Sheffield. There, he started the MRC Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics.
Awards and Recognition
Philip Ingham has received many important awards for his work. He became a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization in 1995. In 2001, he was made a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He also became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2002.
In 2005, he received the Medal of the Genetics Society of Great Britain. In 2007, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He was also the President of the International Society of Developmental Biologists from 2013 to 2017. In 2014, he received the Waddington Medal. He has lived and worked in Singapore since 2005.
Discoveries in Genetics
As a student, Philip Ingham found a new type of gene in fruit flies (Drosophila). He called it trithorax (trx). He showed that this gene helps cells remember what they are supposed to become. This discovery helped scientists understand how genes control cell identity.
Understanding Cell Signals
He also studied how fruit fly embryos develop. He looked at how different genes turn on and off to create body segments. This led him to study the Hedgehog signalling pathway. This pathway is like a communication system between cells.
Ingham's research helped identify the main parts of this pathway. He found that a protein called Patched acts as a receptor for the Hedgehog signal.
Finding Sonic Hedgehog
In 1993, Philip Ingham and his team made a big discovery. They found the human version of the fruit fly's hedgehog gene. They named one important version Sonic hedgehog. This discovery was very exciting for scientists.
It showed that the Hedgehog pathway is important in humans too. It plays a role in how our bodies develop. It also helps us understand some human cancers. This discovery led to new medicines that target this pathway to fight cancer.
Studying Zebrafish
Philip Ingham was one of the first scientists to use zebrafish (Danio rerio) in his research. Zebrafish are small fish that are easy to study. They are great for understanding how vertebrates (animals with backbones) develop. More recently, he has used zebrafish to study human diseases.
