Submitted by J. Grosse on Tue, 02/06/2026 - 15:51
Many congratulations to CIMR group leaders Melissa Gammons and Jeanne Salje, and PhD students Holly Monkhouse and Ellie Fox for their nominations for the University of Cambridge Research Culture Celebration in recognition of the meaningful work they do to promote an equitable and inclusive research environment in CIMR and beyond. This celebration brought to a close the two-week University of Cambridge Research Culture Festival (29th April – 13th May), highlighting those individuals who make a valuable difference to the University and the wider community.
Melissa Gammons
Melissa was nominated for her “substantive and serial contributions to creating a positive and supportive research environment”. Despite running her group for less than two years, she has already become a key figure in supporting other new CIMR PIs as they begin their own groups, sharing her experience openly and proactively. She has also taken on co-leadership of the ‘Learning to Fly’ course that was instigated by the legendary Prof Fiona Karet at CIMR to support women across the School of Clinical Medicine transition to research independence.
Jeanne Salje
Jeanne was also nominated as she is “wholeheartedly committed to working in deep partnership with researchers in low- and middle-income countries”. Her research on scrub typhus, a bacterial infectious disease that causes severe fever which if not properly treated can lead to death, has led her to form equitable partnerships with researchers in Southeast Asia and South America. This includes prioritising the careers and research goals of her partners from Thailand and Chile, regularly hosting both short and long-term placements for students and postdocs in her lab at CIMR to give them access to facilities and technologies.
Holly and Ellie (main image) were nominated for developing and delivering an online widening participation programme for Year 12 students across the UK who are from backgrounds underrepresented in research. The idea for ‘Reaching Research’ came from their own passion for breaking down barriers to research careers. By combining seminars, Q&A with admissions staff, career discussions with scientists at different stages of their career and a live-streamed experiment, the programme was attended by 258 students in 2025 alone, of which 2/3 attended state schools and nearly half had parents who had never attended university. There is no question that ‘Reaching Research’, which has been running for 3 years, will have had a positive impact on university applications and likely careers for students all across the UK.