We are delighted to announce that Professor Corinne Houart has been appointed IoPPN Vice Dean Research and takes up the new role at the start of August.

During her tenure, Corinne will provide academic leadership of and strategic direction to the Faculty’s research agenda, fostering research excellence, innovation and the development of impact.

Looking ahead, IoPPN’s Vice Dean Research will lead the faculty’s preparation for REF 2028 and set the Faculty’s objectives to support the research ambitions of King’s Strategy 2026, Vision 2029 and One King’s Impact.

Corinne brings with her an outstanding track record of expertise and experience. She received her PhD at the University of Brussels in 1992, working on gene regulation in cancer. Following this, her interests moved to embryonic development and she dedicated her postdoctoral training to exploring early forebrain development in zebrafish.

Corinne is now Professor of Developmental Neurobiology at King’s and Deputy Head of the Centre of Developmental Neurobiology, having led the centre from 2011-14. Her group is internationally recognised as leading research into the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive forebrain development and the evolutionary mechanisms underlying vertebrate brain regionalisation. Her team's fundamental research has provided insight into neurodevelopmental and degenerative disorders, from which there developed fruitful collaborations with clinicians.

Among her many accomplishments, Corinne established the use of genome editing in zebrafish at King’s and drove the initiative of building King’s state-of-the-art fish facility. She received the Suffrage Science Award in 2016 and became an EMBO member in 2021. 

The Vice Dean Research is crucial in shaping our future aspirations and strategic direction. We are in challenging times and this role is particularly important in taking us through the next few years.