International recognition for Stepping Stones Fellow

12 Jul 2012

Dr Karen Forbes, a Stepping Stones Fellow in Maternal and Fetal Health, The University of Manchester, has been awarded the prestigious 2012 Gábor Than Award in Placentology.

This award, made by the International Federation of Placenta Associations (IFPA), recognises an outstanding contribution to the field of placentology by someone in the early stages of their career as an investigator. Karen’s current research is targeting placental microRNAs towards a therapy to improve fetal growth.

The Gábor Than Award (which is made every two years) includes $2000, accommodation and registration to the next IFPA meeting (to be held in Hiroshima in September) and an engraved bronze medal. Karen has also been invited to present a plenary lecture at this meeting, which will be published in Trophoblast Research.

Professor Colin Sibley, Head of Research and Innovation at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Director of the Manchester Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre, The University of Manchester said of the award: “I am delighted Karen’s outstanding work in pregnancy research has been recognised. I am also pleased that this is the third occasion this prize has gone to a Manchester postdoctoral researcher in the last four times it’s been awarded.”