Rachel McKendry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rachel McKendry
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Rachel McKendry in September 2016
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Rachel Anne McKendry
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| Alma mater | Durham University (BSc) University of Cambridge (PhD) |
| Awards | Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2014) Rosalind Franklin Award (2014) |
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| Institutions | University College London |
| Thesis | Chemical force microscopy (1999) |
| Academic advisors | Trevor Rayment and Chris Abell |
Rachel Anne McKendry is a British chemist. She is a leading scientist who works on creating smart systems to detect diseases early. She is the Director of i-sense, a research group in the UK. This group focuses on building early warning systems for infectious diseases.
Rachel McKendry is also a Professor at University College London. She teaches about how tiny particles, called nanoparticles, can be used in medicine.
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Education and Early Life
Rachel McKendry studied chemistry at Durham University. She graduated in 1994. Later, she earned her PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1999. While at Cambridge, she also received a special research fellowship from Girton College, Cambridge.
Discoveries and Research
After finishing her studies, Dr. McKendry worked as a researcher at IBM in Zurich. She then returned to the UK to join University College London. There, she received a special research award from the Royal Society.
Dr. McKendry leads a team that combines different fields of science. They work with nanotechnology, phone technology, and large amounts of data. Their goal is to fight infectious diseases and improve public health.
In 2015, she gave a talk about "The Digital Future of Public Health." She talked about creating early warning systems for disease outbreaks. These systems could use information from smartphones and social media. This helps track diseases like SARS and Ebola.
Her research has been published in important science journals. These include Nature and Nature Nanotechnology.
How Technology Helps Detect Diseases
Dr. McKendry's team uses amazing new technologies.
- They use tiny nanodiamonds to find viruses very sensitively.
- They also use tiny sensors called nanosensors. These can detect if bacteria are resistant to medicines.
- Her team uses deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence. This helps make sure rapid tests for diseases work well.
She also led a study on how digital tools helped with the global response to COVID-19.
i-sense: Early Warning for Diseases
Rachel McKendry is the Director of i-sense. This is a big research group started in 2013. Their main goal is to create early warning systems for infectious diseases. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council funds their important work.
Awards and Special Recognition
Dr. McKendry has received several important awards for her scientific work:
- In 2009, she won the Institute of Physics Clifford Paterson Medal and Prize.
- In 2014, she received a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. This award helped her study new ways to connect global health efforts against infectious diseases.
- Also in 2014, she won the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award. This award recognized her scientific achievements. It also highlighted her role as an inspiring figure for young women. She proposed a competition to create phone apps. These apps would encourage women to become leaders in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
