Prof Lady Noreen Murray was born Noreen Parker in the village of Read near Padiham, Lancashire , in 1935. Advertisement Advertisement At the age of five her family moved to Bolton-le-Sands and she later attended Lancaster Girls' Grammar School . Sign up to our daily newsletter Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Lancaster Guardian, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
After school she gained her BSc at Kings College London and later a PhD at the University of Birmingham. She worked in the groundbreaking field of molecular genetics with several research organisations including Stanford University in California. Advertisement Advertisement Noreen had to overcome considerable prejudice from male colleagues who saw science as a male dominated activity.
Prof Murray was a committed researcher and among many other achievements, together with her husband Kenneth Murray, she developed the first molecular engineered vaccine for use on humans, in this case against Hepatitis B. This led the way to vaccines such as the ones currently used against Covid. Advertisement Advertisement All the royalties from the vaccine were donated to a charitable trust, which provides bursaries to foreign students and has paid for two buildings at Edinburgh University.
She worked tirelessly until her death from Motor Neurone Disease in 2011. The plaque was unveiled this week by Linda Altham, a childhood friend of Noreen. Advertisement Advertisement Frank Sutcliffe, a cou.