Houghton Trust Trustee
Professor Helen Sang
Helen Sang is emeritus professor at the Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh. She studied for a degree and PhD in genetics at Cambridge University and then was awarded a SERC-NATO fellowship for research at Harvard University. Returning to the UK, Helen was awarded a further fellowship to study molecular biology at the University of Edinburgh and then moved to set up a research group applying molecular biology in the chicken at the Poultry Research Centre (now the Roslin Institute).
Her research has involved the development of techniques for genetic modification of chickens and the application of these techniques in animal breeding, biotechnology and developmental biology.
She has obtained competitive research funding from the Biotechnology and Biotechnology Research Council (BBSRC), the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and industry. Prof. Sang was Honorary Treasurer and Vice President of the UK Genetics Society (1999-2008), a member of several BBSRC Committees (1999-2020), a member of BBSRC Council (2014-2018), member Friedrich Loeffler Institute Scientific Advisory Board (2012-2018), member of the Global Challenges Research Fund Strategy Advisory Group (2016-2019) and is currently a member of the Pirbright Institute Scientific Advisory Board.
In parallel to her research interests she has been engaged in public understanding of science, particularly the application of GM technologies, and in supporting gender equality, leading the Roslin Institute’s successful application for an Athena SWAN Gold Award for gender equality. Prof. Sang was elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of Biology in 2008 and awarded an OBE for services to food security and bioscience for health in 2020. She has been a member of the Houghton Trust since 2021 and was elected as Trustee in 2024.