Edith Heard, incoming Chief Executive at the Crick and current Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), has been awarded the CNRS gold medal, one of the most prestigious French scientific awards. 

After completing her postdoctoral position at the Institut Pasteur, Edith set up her laboratory at the Institut Curie, thanks to the support of the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France’s multidisciplinary public research organisation, overseen by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

CNRS have awarded the gold medal to Edith in October 2024 in recognition of her pioneering work on the inactivation of the X chromosome in females, which she began researching at the Institut Pasteur. 

Her work has involved deciphering when and how genes on one of the two X chromosomes are switched off in early female development. Her lab showed that this is a very dynamic developmental process and that different mammals use different ways of initiating X chromosome inactivation. 

Edith has also uncovered some of the epigenetic mechanisms regulating gene expression during the X-chromosome inactivation process.

Edith’s research could help to better understand conditions that largely impact women, including breast cancer. She will continue her work in X chromosome biology in her new lab at the Crick from summer 2025, as she takes on the Chief Executive role from Paul Nurse. 

Accompanied by 50,000 euros, the CNRS gold medal will be presented to Edith in December 2024. 

Edith said: 

It’s a great honour to be awarded this CNRS gold medal, which is a testament to all of the wonderful colleagues and collaborators I have had the privilege to work with over the years.