Sarah Teichmann

workplaces = education = European School, Karlsruhe alma_mater = University of Cambridge (BA, MA, PhD) thesis_title = Genome evolution: analysing proteomes with new methods thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.624585 thesis_year = 1999 doctoral_advisor = Cyrus Chothia doctoral_students = M. Madan Babu notable_students = known_for = awards = Plainlist| EMBO Gold Medal (2015) Colworth Medal (2010) Lister Prize (2011) Suffrage Science award (2012) EMBO Member (2012) Crick Lecture (2012) Michael and Kate Bárány Award (2015) ISCB Fellow (2016) is a German scientist, the former head of cellular genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and a visiting research group leader at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). in the Cavendish Laboratory, Professor at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, and is a senior research fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge.

Education Teichmann was educated at the European School, Karlsruhe in Germany from 1981 to 1993 where she completed the European Baccalaureate in 1993. Teichmann went on to study the Natural Sciences Tripos at Trinity College, Cambridge and was awarded a first class Bachelor of Arts degree in 1996. In 1999, she completed her PhD supervised by Cyrus Chothia at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) on genome evolution.

Career and research Following her PhD, Teichmann did postdoctoral research supervised by Janet Thornton at University College London

In 2013 Teichmann was appointed a joint position at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). From 2005 to 2015 she served as a teaching fellow and director of studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. Since 2016 Teichmann has served as the head of Cellular Genetics at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute investigates gene expression and protein complex assembly using both wet laboratory and computational biology techniques. In particular her research group:

Teichmann's research has been funded by the European Research Council (ERC), the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Wellcome Trust, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development and the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST). Subhajyoti De Jay Han, Sarah Kay Kummerfeld Tina Perica, and Jing Su, and several postdoctoral researchers who have gone on to become Principal investigators (PIs).

Awards and honours Teichmann has won a number of awards. In 2010, she was awarded the Colworth Medal from the Biochemical Society. In 2012, Teichman was awarded the Francis Crick Medal and Lecture, membership of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and the EMBO Gold Medal. Teichmann was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2015. Her citation on election reads: Teichmann has also been an activist for women's careers in science through enabling scientists in families to advance their careers while working part-time. She chaired a Sex in Science debate at the Wellcome Trust on balancing family life with working in research. Teichmann was elected an ISCB Fellow in 2016 by the International Society for Computational Biology. She was awarded the Mary Lyon Medal by The Genetics Society in 2018.

In 2020, Teichmann was recognised on The Times 'Science Power List' for her work on the Human Cell Atlas and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 2023 Teichmann was the winner of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) EMBO Women in Science Award.

In 2026 Teichmann was nominated as the Laureate for Europe and awarded the 2026 L'Oréal-UNESCO for Women In Science International Award.

Personal life Teichmann has two daughters. Teichmann is the co-author of the children's language education novel Teenage Detectives, which she wrote as a teenager together with her mother Dr. Virginia Teichmann, an English-language university lecturer in Karlsruhe. In 2022, Teichmann collaborated in the production of an experimental film Constellations, which was produced by her sister, artist Esther Teichmann, and visual artist Christopher Stewart as an exploration of the Human Cell Atlas. The film was funded by the Wellcome Trust as part of the One Cell at a Time public engagement grant.