Professor Linda Partridge DBE FRS

Professor Linda Partridge has used the model organism Drosophila melanogaster to investigate the evolution of a wide variety of physiological traits involved in adaptation. Her research is directed to understanding fitness-related traits, particularly ageing and body size, and has brought new insights into how traits influence organisms throughout their lifespans.

She is the recipient of numerous awards, including giving the Royal Society Croonian Lecture in May and her recent DBE for services to science. She is the Director of the UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing, as well as of a new Max Planck Institute on the same topic in Germany.

Her current research focuses on physiological mechanisms that force organisms to make trade-offs, such as that between high nutrient intake and high reproductive rate, on the one hand, and slow ageing on the other.