Pioneering professor finally bows out at 83

A PROFESSOR from Bradford who made ground-breaking discoveries in the world of science has said she finds it “enormously” difficult to stop working as she retires at the age of 83.

Prof Diana Anderson, from the University of Bradford’s centre for Biomedical Sciences, has met royalty and Margaret Thatcher through her work but said her proudest moment was being awarded an MBE by King Charles in the New Year’s Honours list 2022.

Her work has focused on using a single test for each type of cancer detection, and she has published almost 600 papers and 13 books, bringing in almost £3m in research funding.

She has also supervised 50 PhD students and intends to carry on with four more until they finish.

Now, as retirement brings an end to an illustrious career, Prof Anderson said she hopes to spend her time with family and grandchildren and on trips to the theatre, but she does plan on carrying out some more scientific research and to write even more papers.

“I have loved every minute that I have been at the University of Bradford,” she said. “They said to me ‘you know what you want to do, go away and do it’.

“I have been allowed to fly here.

I always said that if I had a lab of my own, I would treat people the same. There would be no formal boss. I would allow people to get on with it.

“The wonderful thing would be to have a united front on a test, or tests, acceptable for cancer.

“I am a seasoned scientist, I suppose that’s what I am. I have found it enormously difficult to retire.”

Prof Anderson was a pioneer in the early stages of her career as the first female scientist at chemical company ICI – at a time before the company even had women's bathrooms.

Her research into Genome stability in the umbilical cord blood has been ground-breaking, leading to a major discovery showing how damaged DNA from the father smoking can pass to the child.

After working at the British Industrial Biological Research Association (BIBRA) from 1981, Prof Anderson moved to the University of Bradford in 2000, initially as Chair in Biomedical Sciences.

Her past students at Bradford include Labour MP for Streatham, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who described her as an inspirational teacher.

“My career has gone the way I hoped it would do," she said. “I would not have wanted to do anything else. I was very lucky.”