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Dr Lizzie Burns

Dr Lizzie Burns

Lizzie has always combined a deep and active interest in both science and art. She was a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford before becoming a full-time science-based artist and communicator in 2002. Since then Lizzie has continued creating her artwork including drawings for Professor Ray Guillery’s book ‘The Brain as a Tool’ and outreach projects. This includes contributing to ‘C-slide’ based on a collection of teaching microscope slides from Nobel Prize winning Sir Charles Scott Sherrington whose poetic writing includes describing the brain as ‘an enchanted loom’. Lizzie was awarded an OxTALENT prize for inspiring students about Sherrington.

Here are her thoughts on what inspired her to create Medical Research Revealed: “My idea for this unique project came from the Medical Research Council’s mission ‘to promote public engagement with medical research’.  As a child I was fascinated by small creatures and painting pictures and these interests have remained an essential part of my life. During my academic career I have combined them by producing paintings based on cellular and molecular biology. Working on a large-scale, in-depth project like Medical Research Revealed has enabled me to develop my art further. It has been a very rewarding experience to apply scientific knowledge to art to reveal the beauty and complexity of life to a wider audience.”