Irene Roberts is a British physician-scientist specializing in pediatric hematology. She is an emeritus professor of paediatric haematology at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine.[1]
Education
editRoberts obtained her medical degree from Glasgow University, learning embryology from Regius Professor of Anatomy Raymond Scothorne. She found the "most beautiful cells" under the microscope to be in the developing bone and bone marrow.[2] After what she called a "dalliance with a career in obstetrics...(a complete failure)"[2], Roberts trained in pediatrics at Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children. She furthered her training in pediatric hematology at Vanderbilt University and did her postdoctoral work at Imperial College London.[3]
Career
editRoberts took a faculty position at Imperial College London, moving to the University of Oxford’s Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in 2013. She studied how blood cells develop in prenatal liver and bone marrow using single-cell multiomics to identify key gene patterns that differed in Down syndrome patients, as part of the Human Cell Atlas initiative.[4][5] She published hundreds of papers on benign and malignant childhood blood disorders and has an h-index of 70.[6]
Awards
edit- Ham-Wasserman award and lectureship, American Society of Hematology, 2022[7][8]
Selected publications
edit- Neonatal Haematology: a Practical Guide (with Barbara J. Bain), Wiley-Blackwell, 2022. ISBN 978-1119371588
- Iskander D, Karadimitris A, Roberts I. "Harnessing Single-Cell Technologies in the Search for New Therapies for Diamond-Blackfan Anemia Syndrome". Experimental Hematology, 2024.[9]
- Roberts I, Vyas P. "Sowing the seeds of leukemia before birth". Science, 2021.[10]
- Popescu DM, Botting RA, Stephenson E, Green K, Roberts I, Göttgens B, Behjati S, Laurenti E, Teichmann SA, Haniffa M. "Decoding human fetal liver haematopoiesis". Nature, 2019.[11]
- Roberts I, Fordham NJ, Rao A, Bain BJ. "Neonatal leukaemia". British Journal of Haematology, 2018.[12]
- Roberts I, de la Fuente J. "Sickle cell disease: the price of cure". Blood, 2016.[13]
- Roberts I, Izraeli S. "Haematopoietic development and leukaemia in Down syndrome". British Journal of Haematology, 2014.[14]
- Chakravorty S, Roberts I. "How I manage neonatal thrombocytopenia". British Journal of Haematology, 2012.[15]
- Roberts IA. "The changing face of haemolytic disease of the newborn". Early Human Development, 2008.[16]
- Roberts IA, Murray NA. "Neonatal thrombocytopenia". Current Hematology Reports, 2006.[17]
- Halsey C, Roberts IA. "The role of hydroxyurea in sickle cell disease". British Journal of Haematology, 2003.[18]
Personal life
editRoberts juggled "a busy clinical job and two young children" while at her first faculty position.[19]
References
edit- ^ "Irene Roberts". www.imm.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
- ^ a b Roberts I, Hann I (November 2020). "The genesis of paediatric haematology in the UK". British Journal of Haematology. 191 (4): 593–603. doi:10.1111/bjh.17163. PMID 33190251.
- ^ Roberts, Irene. "The Road to Beating Childhood Leukaemia". Blood Cancer UK. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ Mobley, Immy (October 4, 2021). "Understanding prenatal haematopoiesis in bone marrow". Front Line Genomics. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ Jardine L, Webb S, Goh I, Quiroga Londoño M, Reynolds G, Mather M, Olabi B, Stephenson E, Botting RA, Roberts I, Teichmann SA, Haniffa M (October 2021). "Blood and immune development in human fetal bone marrow and Down syndrome". Nature. 598 (7880): 327–331. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03929-x. PMC 7612688. PMID 34588693.
- ^ "Irene A. Roberts". Scopus. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
- ^ "Irene Roberts delivers Ham-Wasserman Lecture". University of Oxford Department of Paediatrics. January 13, 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ Roberts I (December 2022). "Leukemogenesis in infants and young children with trisomy 21". Hematology. American Society of Hematology. Education Program. 2022 (1): 1–8. doi:10.1182/hematology.2022000395. PMC 9820574. PMID 36485097.
- ^ Iskander D, Karadimitris A, Roberts I (July 2024). "Harnessing Single-Cell Technologies in the Search for New Therapies for Diamond-Blackfan Anemia Syndrome". Experimental Hematology. 135: 104235. doi:10.1016/j.exphem.2024.104235. PMID 38740323.
- ^ Roberts I, Vyas P (July 2021). "Sowing the seeds of leukemia before birth". Science (New York, N.Y.). 373 (6551): 155–156. doi:10.1126/science.abj3957.
- ^ Popescu DM, Botting RA, Stephenson E, Green K, Roberts I, Göttgens B, Behjati S, Laurenti E, Teichmann SA, Haniffa M (October 2019). "Decoding human fetal liver haematopoiesis". Nature. 574 (7778): 365–371. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1652-y. PMC 6861135. PMID 31597962.
- ^ Roberts I, Fordham NJ, Rao A, Bain BJ (July 2018). "Neonatal leukaemia". British Journal of Haematology. 182 (2): 170–184. doi:10.1111/bjh.15246. PMID 29806701.
- ^ Roberts I, de la Fuente J (November 2016). "Sickle cell disease: the price of cure". Blood. 128 (21): 2486–2488. doi:10.1182/blood-2016-10-740969. PMID 27884835.
- ^ Roberts I, Izraeli S (December 2014). "Haematopoietic development and leukaemia in Down syndrome". British Journal of Haematology. 167 (5): 587–99. doi:10.1111/bjh.13096. PMID 25155832.
- ^ Chakravorty S, Roberts I (January 2012). "How I manage neonatal thrombocytopenia". British Journal of Haematology. 156 (2): 155–62. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2141.2011.08892.x. PMID 21950766.
- ^ Roberts IA (August 2008). "The changing face of haemolytic disease of the newborn". Early Human Development. 84 (8): 515–23. doi:10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2008.06.005. PMID 18621490.
- ^ Roberts IA, Murray NA (March 2006). "Neonatal thrombocytopenia". Current Hematology Reports. 5 (1): 55–63. PMID 16537047.
- ^ Halsey C, Roberts IA (January 2003). "The role of hydroxyurea in sickle cell disease". British Journal of Haematology. 120 (2): 177–86. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2141.2003.03849.x. PMID 12542474.
- ^ "Meet Irene Roberts, our September volunteer of the month". European Hematology Association. September 19, 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2024.