Gillian Bates

Education Bates was educated at Kenilworth Grammar School and the University of Sheffield where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1979.

Research Bates's research has focused on Huntington's disease. She was one of the group who first cloned the Huntington's disease gene. She also created the first mouse model of the disease, the R6/2 mouse, an important step in understanding the pathogenesis of Huntington's.

Prior to joining UCL in 2016, Bates was the head of the Neurogenetics Research Group at King's College London.

Awards and honours Bates has been elected a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999) and a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (2002). She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2007 and to its Council in 2011. In 1998, she was awarded the Royal Society Glaxo Wellcome Award jointly with Stephen Davies, for the "discovery of the cause of Huntington's Disease". In August 2024, Bates was recipient of the Royal Society's prestigious Ferrier Medal, which recognised her work in understanding the molecular basis of Huntington's disease.