Prof Sarah Reece

Sarah works at the interface of infectious disease and evolutionary ecology. She studied Zoology at the University of Glasgow, graduating with Honours in 1999. Sarah completed her PhD in 2003 at the University of Edinburgh having researched the reproductive strategies of sea turtles, parasitoid wasps, and malaria parasites. After an 18-month short-term lecturing position at the University of Stirling, Sarah won a fellowship in 2005 from the Natural Environment Research Council UK to set up her lab at the University of Edinburgh. Next, Sarah secured a Wellcome Trust Career Development fellowship in 2008, followed by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in 2013. Sarah is also a Wellcome Trust Investigator and was made Chair of Evolutionary Parasitology in 2014 by the University of Edinburgh. She has authored over 90 papers and been awarded several prizes including a L'Oréal-UNESCO fellowship for women in science, NEXXUS East young life scientist of the year, the Zoological Society London Scientific Medal, and fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Sarah currently supervises a team of 10 researchers and has mentored more than 10 PhD students. During the early years of her University Research Fellowship, Sarah has had 2 children and worked part time. Sarah’s fellowships and grants from UK and international funders allow research in the Reece lab to take a highly interdisciplinary approach to investigating what makes a successful parasite, and the evolutionary limits on their success. These strategies underpin the severity of infections and the transmission of disease and are understood through the lenses of parasitology, chronobiology, and evolutionary ecology with occasional dabbling in biophysics, population genetics, and theoretical models. The Reece lab is also committed to public engagement and have developed a diverse program of activities for primary school children.