Nancy Lane Perham

Nancy Lane Perham (born 1936) is a Canadian cell biologist and artist ,and is a full professor at the University of Cambridge, specialising in cell-to-cell interactions.

Early life and education

Lane Perham was born in 1936, and is originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was educated at Queen Elizabeth High School, where she was advised that women could not be scientists, only lab technicians. She undertook her undergraduate degree and a Masters of Science at Dalhousie University. Professor Dixie Pelluet, a professor of invertebrate zoology and genetics, was an important and supportive role model for Lane. After she graduated, Lane Perham was awarded the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire scholarship, and won the Governor General's Gold Medal, which allowed her to undertake her doctoral study at Oxford University. Lane Perham completed her PhD titled ''A cytological study of secretory processes in gastropods, with special reference to the problem of neurosecretion'' at Oxford in 1963.

Academic career

After postdoctoral positions at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and Yale University, Lane Perham joined the faculty of the University of Cambridge in 1968, rising to full professor. She has been described as a "brilliant microscopist". Her research focuses on cell-to-cell interactions, such as gap junctions and tight junctions, especially in invertebrates. Besides studying cell structures and interactions, Lane Perham also paints them. Some of her works have appeared on journal covers and some were selected by David Hockney to appear in the Royal Academy of Art's 1995 Summer Exhibition.

Lane Perham is an advocate for women in science. She was asked by the Prime Minister, John Major, to chair the Working Party on Women in SET after William Waldegrave's 1993 White Paper on the British science system, ''Realizing Our Potential'', had devoted one whole paragraph to women, but noted that they were the single most undervalued human resource in Britain. The working party produced the 1993 report ''The Rising Tide''. Lane Perham co-founded the Athena Project, and was founder of WiSETI, a Cambridge initiative to advance women in science, technology and engineering.

Personal life

Lane Perham was married to biochemist Richard Nelson Perham, Master of St John's College, until his death in 2015. They had two children together.

Honours and awards

Lane Perham is a Life Fellow of Girton College at Cambridge. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1994 for services to science.

Lane Perham has honorary doctorates from six universities, including from the University of Surrey in 2005. She was inducted into the Nova Scotia Science Hall of Fame in 2006.

Selected works

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References

External links

Interview on Induction into the Nova Scotia Science Hall of Fame
2006

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane Perham, Nancy
New Zealand academics
New Zealand women academics
Biologists at the University of Cambridge
Alumni of the University of Oxford
Dalhousie University alumni
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
People associated with Girton College, Cambridge