Rebecca Shipley facts for kids

Rebecca Julia Shipley is a British mathematician. She is also a professor of healthcare engineering at University College London (UCL). Healthcare engineering uses engineering ideas to solve problems in health and medicine.

Professor Shipley leads the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering. She also helps direct the UCL Centre for Nerve Engineering. She is a Vice Dean for Health in the UCL Faculty of Engineering Sciences. She is also a co-director of the UCL CHIMERA Research Hub. She is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Early Life and Education

Rebecca Shipley grew up in Buckinghamshire, England. She went to Dr Challoner's High School for Girls. She studied Mathematics at University of Oxford. She got her Master's degree there.

In 2008, she earned her doctorate (a high-level degree) from Oxford. Her research was about how fluids and medicines move inside tumors.

Research Career

After her doctorate, Professor Shipley worked as a research fellow. She created computer models to understand how tissues respond to different signals. She also worked at the Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Bath.

From Math to Bioengineering

In 2012, Professor Shipley started working in bioengineering at UCL. Bioengineering uses engineering principles to study living things. Her research focuses on two main areas:

• Blood flow in tumors.
• Engineering tissues for the nervous system.

Understanding Tumors and Treatments

In her work on tumors, she combines computer models with imaging data. This helps her understand how cancer treatments work. Her efforts to improve cancer therapies have been noticed by the national news.

Helping Nerves Repair

Professor Shipley also works on helping nerves repair themselves. She uses engineering and computer models to study how nerves respond to different things. This helps her design and test new ways to fix damaged nerves.

UCL Centre for Nerve Engineering

In 2017, she helped start the UCL Centre for Nerve Engineering. This was the first center in the UK to combine engineering and science with medicine. Its goal is to solve real-world problems in nerve engineering.

Helping During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In March 2020, Professor Shipley was a key leader in a special project. UCL, UCL Hospitals, and Mercedes F1 worked together. They developed and made the Ventura breathing mask. These masks were very important for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The design of the mask was made "open source." This means anyone could use the design for free. Over 1,800 teams from 105 countries have used the design.

Awards and Recognition

Professor Shipley has received many awards for her important work:

• In 2011, she was named "Young Researcher of the Year" by the Tissue and Cell Engineering Society UK.
• She won the Rosetrees Trust Interdisciplinary Prize in 2016.
• She received a 5-year fellowship from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in 2018.
• She is an editor for important scientific journals like Nature Scientific Reports.

In 2021, she was given the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award. This was for her services to developing the breathing device during the pandemic. In 2024, she became a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Public Engagement

Professor Shipley enjoys sharing her knowledge of mathematics and engineering with others. Her public activities include:

• Taking part in "Tomorrow’s Engineers Week Big Assembly" in 2019. This event inspires young people to consider engineering careers.
• Having a display at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition about the "Mathematics of Cancer."
• Being a guest on podcasts for BBC Radio 2 and The Naked Scientists.