About us

Centre of the Cell is a science education centre based at the Whitechapel Campus of Queen Mary University of London. It is the first science education centre in the world to be located within working biomedical research laboratories.

We seek to have a positive impact on the educational, career and health choices of the children, young people and families we work with.

Centre of the Cell is an online resource, a science and health education centre and outreach project. We run educational sessions in the Centre of the Cell STEM Pod supported by workshops, mentoring and revision programmes, online resources and volunteering opportunities.

Our website was launched in March 2007 and the Centre opened in September 2009.

Our aims:

Stimulate interest and dialogue about biomedical research
Help to improve health and wellbeing in local communities
Raise aspirations, inspire the next generation of scientists and healthcare professionals, and widen participation in further education
Foster excellence in public engagement and science education

Frances Balkwill

Our founder and director

Professor Frances Balkwill OBE FMedSci FRS

Fran is Founder and Director of Centre of the Cell. She is also Professor of Cancer Biology at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, and Deputy Centre Lead in the Centre for Tumour Microenvironment. Her research focuses on ovarian cancer, with the aim of translating knowledge from cancer biology into new treatments for cancer.

Fran was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society in 2024 for not only her contribution to cancer research but also her dedication to public engagement of science.

Apart from her work at Centre of the Cell, Fran has produced, together with graphic designer Mic Rolph, thirteen science books for children on cell and molecular biology with titles such as Enjoy Your Cells, The Egg and Sperm Race and You, Me and HIV. These books have been translated into at least twelve foreign languages with over half a million copies sold worldwide

Alongside these roles Fran serves on CRUK, Royal Society, AACR and AIRC grant committees. She chairs the Research Advisory Committee of Prostate Cancer UK.

Our team

What makes up Centre of the Cell?

Other than our innovative and engaging content designed and developed by our wider family of scientists and researchers of Queen Mary University of London. Centre of the Cell employees a small team of exceptional individuals form a variety of scientific and educational backgrounds.

Working together using our experience and passion for science, we hope to make science fun, relevant and accessible to all.