I’m incredibly honoured to be awarded the Louise Hanson Marshall Special Recognition Award. I can’t help feeling that I’m not sure I deserve it, especially in the company of Michelle Jones-London whom I admire hugely. But really, this prize is about all the incredible and inspiring women who have worked tirelessly with me over the years, and to whom I owe an immense debt, to improve equity in neuroscience."
Professor Laura Andreae
17 September 2024
Professor Laura Andreae awarded the Louise Hanson Marshall Special Recognition Award by the Society for Neuroscience
The award honours individuals who have significantly promoted the professional development of women in neuroscience through teaching, organizational leadership, public advocacy, or other efforts.
Professor Laura Andreae, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience at King’s College London and group leader at Centre for Developmental Neurobiology and MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, is one of two recipients of this year’s Louise Hanson Marshall Special Recognition Award. Her research work focuses on the circuit formation in neurodevelopmental disorder.
The award recognises her pivotal work in establishing infrastructure to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in neuroscience internationally. In 2020 Professor Andreae joined the ALBA Network, a division of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) that aims to promote equity and diversity in the field of brain sciences. As a network member, she contributed to the development of the ALBA Declaration of Equity and Inclusion. This landmark report provides evidence-based guidelines for individuals and organizations, and signatories now include 224 organizations and 748 individuals.
As a member of ALBA’s leadership team since 2021, and as chair 2022–2023, Professor Andreae has contributed to initiatives such as travel grants for those in low-income countries, diversity training, and data collection on DEI-relevant issues. Her position in SfN’s Diversity and Inclusion working group 2020–22 also enhanced speaker diversity at SfN events.
Within the United Kingdom, she has been equally active. She was instrumental in creating the British Neuroscience Association’s Scholars Program which provides mentorship, networking opportunities, and financial support to students and early-career researchers from underrepresented ethnic groups. At King’s, she runs the PhD program at the Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders. She is a solution-oriented mentor, with compassion for events that disproportionately impact women and under-represented groups including parental leave, mental health, and microaggressions.
Through this award, the Society for Neuroscience acknowledges how her proactive involvement in her communities has impacted systemic policy and individual career trajectories.
Professor Andreae received this award alongside Dr Michelle Jones-London, an associate director of the Office of Programs to Enhance the Neuroscience Workforce (OPEN) in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Office of the Director.
For more information, please contact Annora Thoeng (Communications Manager - School of Neuroscience)
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Professor of Developmental Neuroscience