Dr Halima Moncrieffe will be joining the Inspirational YOU panel entitled ‘The power and influence of science’ at Birkbeck, University of London on Saturday 30th June 2012.

Dr Moncrieffe is an award-winning scientist specialising in the immune system. She gained her PhD from Imperial College investigating lupus, an autoimmune disease that is more common in African-Caribbean women than other ethnic groups. She has performed research to understand better how the immune system works to protect us from infection but fails to switch off during autoimmune diseases. She has worked at prestigious institutes in the UK, Europe and USA and has written numerous science articles and resources.

Dr Moncrieffe is currently a Senior Research Fellow at UCL working as lead biology investigator on the CHARM study investigating why some children with arthritis do not respond to therapy. This is one of the largest such studies world-wide and the team were delighted by their science breakthrough last year, finding a protein in the blood that may help predict which children will respond well to medication. (link: http://www.sparks.org.uk/media-centre/news/2011/breakthrough-children-juvenile-arthritis/)

Dr Moncrieffe has been invited to speak at international events about her research and enjoys inspiring people about science through public engagements, lectures and tutorials.

Following the inspirational theme, she is founder of Ruby Shutter – Inspirational images: providing portrait and event photography and motivational quotes for businesses and individuals.

Follow Ruby Shutter on Facebook for the latest quotes to inspire you! (http://www.facebook.com/RubyShutter)