Ellen Birgit Lane

Ellen Birgit Lane is a scientific researcher and academic in the field of human biology. She is the Executive Director of the Institute of Medical Biology, A*STAR, in Singapore, and the Chief Scientist of the Skin Research Institute of Singapore. Her research concerns the function of the epithelial cytoskeleton and its importance in disease.

Education Lane was a student at Withington Girls' School in Manchester between 1962 and 1969. She went on to study Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at University College London (UCL), where she completed her BSc in 1972, followed by a PhD in 1976.

In 2009 Lane took up a full-time appointment with A*STAR. She held the position of Executive Director of the Institute of Medical Biology at the Agency until 2018, and continues to work as Chief Scientist in the Institute.

Lane has published over 250 research papers and reviews. She is known internationally for her research on epithelial biology. and has a long-standing interest in the function of the epithelial cytoskeleton and its importance in disease. Her team studies the links between mutations and tissue structure failure in human skin diseases,

A number of internationally renowned professors and key opinion leaders have been trained and mentored by Lane, including Xin Lu and Irwin McLean. She continues to mentor young scientists and trainees in her laboratory, which she considers to be a great privilege.

Honours and awards Lane has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Singapore Academy of Science.