Simone Ann Marie Badal McCreath is a cancer researcher and a medical sciences lecturer known for the creation of the first ever prostate and breast cancer cells lines that were derived from Black people.[1]
Simone Badal McCreath | |
|---|---|
| Born | Simone Ann Marie Badal |
| Nationality | Jamaican |
| Alma mater | University of the West Indies |
| Known for | cell line research |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cancer research |
Life and career
editThe daughter of a shop keeper, Badal McCreath’s mother left the family when she was young; and her step-mother and she did not get along. Badal McCreath’s science education was deterred by a lack of teachers in her local school and it was only when she reached University that she decided to be a researcher. Badal McCreath grew up in a poor community where no one in her family had ever attended college.[2]
While attending The University of the West Indies, Badal McCreath decided not to practice medicine but to build a career in research.[2] "There was this one professor who taught biochemistry," she says. "I remember falling in love with biochemistry right then and there." Badal McCreath was chosen among 25 scientists worldwide for the inaugural "Rising Scholars: Breast Cancer Program". She led a team at The University of the West Indies (UWI) in creating the first cancer cell line from the Caribbean in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The intent was to create more cancer cell lines for black people in the fight against prostate and breast cancer.[3]
Awards
editOn February 15, 2014, Badal McCreath, along with four other women chemists from across the world, was awarded the Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early Career Women Scientists in the Developing World. The winning researchers represented five regions of the developing world from Indonesia, Jamaica, Nigeria, Uzbekistan and Yemen.[4] [5]
Bibliography
edit- Badal McCreath, Simone (September 11, 2023). No Cell Left Behind: A Jamaican Scientist's Breakthrough to the First Caribbean Cell Line, ACRJ-PC28. ISBN 978-9768332073.
References
edit- ^ "Dr Simone Badal McCreath's groundbreaking cancer research recognised". Loop News. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ a b Brink, Susan (2014-08-05). "Against All Odds: Women in Developing Countries Succeed in STEM Fields". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
- ^ "After significant breakthrough, J'can scientist not letting up on cancer research". jamaica-gleaner.com. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
- ^ "Chemists receive prize for women in science". TWAS. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
- ^ el-Kurebe, Abdallah (2014-02-13). "Nigerian woman for the Elsevier Foundation Awards". Newsdiaryonline (Lagos). Retrieved 2017-11-07.