Exciting new roles beckon for St Catharine’s Fellows

With their scientific achievements opening up new professional opportunities, St Catharine’s is excited to see what three of our Fellows accomplish when they move on from the College to take up new roles in the Cambridge area in the coming weeks.

Dr Fatima Santos (2010) has been appointed to a Senior Scientist position at Altos Labs Cambridge Institute of Science. This is a newly formed, privately funded institute, headed by Professor Wolf Reik, dedicated to unravelling the deep biology of cellular rejuvenation programming, aiming to restore cell health and resilience to reverse disease, injury and disabilities that occur throughout life. Her two decades of experience in epigenetic reprogramming – much of it gained during her time at St Catharine’s – will prove valuable in this highly collaborative project.

She commented, “Being part of St Catharine’s has been one of the best and more enriching experiences of my life. I have greatly enjoyed serving the College as a Fellow, supervisor, Director of Studies and, more recently, the Postgraduate Tutor responsible for student welfare. St Catharine’s is a wonderful community, with amazing Fellows, excellent and dedicated staff and marvellous students, both undergraduate and postgraduate. I will miss them all and hope to have contributed, however slightly, to their success over the last 12 years.”

Professor Nick Morrell (2013) will be stepping down from his University Chair and as Director of Studies in Medicine at St Catharine’s to take up a full-time position as CEO of the biotechnology company, Morphogen-IX, based at the Babraham campus. Professor Morrell co-founded this company in 2015 as a result of years of research into the genetic basis of a rare disease, pulmonary arterial hypertension. The company, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Centessa Pharmaceuticals, is developing a new treatment for people with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

He said, “I have truly enjoyed my time of Director of Studies in Medicine at Catz. To see our students progress from the admissions interviews through to being fully-fledged doctors has been humbling and I have kept in contact with many of them as they progress in their careers. It has been an honour to be part of our remarkable Fellowship and I hope to stay in contact with colleagues and friends over the coming years. I have been a Fellow since 2013, so still a relative newcomer! But I will remain a life-long fan of the College and will continue to provide support whenever I can.”

In addition, Dr Varun Warrier (2019) recently completed his time as Bowring Research Fellow at St Catharine's. He has been appointed as a University Assistant Professor at the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Cambridge, which will enable him to continue his ongoing research into understanding how both biology and the social environment impact neurodevelopment and mental health.

He added, “Being offered a Junior Research Fellowship at St Catharine's has been an amazing opportunity and has proven to be an extremely rewarding experience. It provided me with funding for my own independent research, allowing me to grow as a researcher and pursue interesting ideas. Catz also provided me with an incredibly supportive environment to advance my research career.”

Professor Sir Mark Welland (2016), Master of St Catharine’s, commented:

“We should all take great delight in how Fatima, Nick and Varun have flourished during their time at St Catharine’s and I hope everyone will join me in wishing them the very best of luck in their exciting new roles. The College is understandably proud of what they have achieved in their respective disciplines and grateful to them for the numerous ways they have contributed to life in College. None of them are moving away from Cambridge so I have every hope that they will stay in close contact with their friends at St Catharine’s.”

The College looks forward to welcoming eight Fellows to St Catharine’s at the start of the new academic year. Further details about these new admissions will be released in September.