The Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology is one of the largest departments at UCL.
It is part of the Division of Biosciences in the Faculty of Life Sciences and brings together excellent, internationally competitive cell, developmental and evolutionary biologists to provide coherence of research strategy in the exciting fields of Life Science.

There are more than 65 members of academic staff, directly in the department or holding joint appointments with other departments. Of these, there are five Readers and 36 Professors, including six Fellows of the Royal Society and 16 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

The Department is interactive - there are several series of regular seminars. Postgraduate students are regularly monitored by a small committee appointed among experts in the field, which also stimulates interactions between labs. Several laboratories also run joint journal clubs and group meetings, and there are numerous collaborations both within the Department, across the Faculty of Life Sciences and throughout UCL.

The research encompasses a wide spectrum of biomedical investigation, from molecular analysis of cell signalling processes to aesthetics, philosophy, ethics and the history of medical practices in classical times.

Around 200 research fellows, technicians and PhD students are engaged in this work, their activities being funded by competitive research grant income currently exceeding £30m.

Current distinguished visitors to the department include Professors Marianne Bronner-Fraser, Scott Fraser and David Stock

The former Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology from which our new Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology was seeded, was rated grade 5A in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. Developmental biology was particularly strong in the previous Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, whereas Cell Biology was scattered among several departments (Anatomy, Biology, Biochemistry, Physiology and LMCB). The new grouping provides continuity across the whole range of cell biology from cell signalling, regulation of cell motility, cell adhesion, cell and tissue polarity, intracellular traffic, metabolism, apoptosis, regeneration and repair, wound healing, clocks and gene expression in adult tissues, embryos and stem cells. For some interesting accounts of the Department's history, click here.

On our website you will find information on our research groups and the areas into which they research, news stories from the department, our graduate programmes, where to find us, forthcoming events, and contact details.