Esther Odekunle

Esther A. Odekunle is a British neurobiologist and antibody engineer. Her research focuses on identifying and removing risks from antibodies to improve their development into medications. She also promotes the visibility of diverse professionals in STEM.[1]

Esther A. Odekunle
EducationB.S., Biochemistry
Ph.D., Neurobiology
Alma materQueen Mary University of London
Known forScience communication
Scientific career
FieldsNeuroscience
Molecular biology
Pharmacology
InstitutionsGlaxoSmithKline
ThesisDiscovery and Characterisation of Vasopressin/Oxytocin-type Signalling in an Echinoderm and a Xenacoelomorph (2018)

Early life and education

Odekunle was born the youngest of her siblings and raised in the United Kingdom by Nigerian parents who had emigrated to the UK.[2] She was inspired by her teachers while growing up and by books on animals and the human body, encouraging her interest in science from a young age. After initially considering a career in medicine, she earned both the B.S. in biochemistry and Ph.D. in neurobiology from Queen Mary University of London.[3][2][4] Her doctoral work focused on neuropeptide systems in starfish[5]. She chose to work on starfish because of little-understood abilities such as regeneration[2]. After having worked with mice and rats as an undergraduate, she was also encouraged by the fact that starfish do not bite.[6] She took a year off between degree programs and received full funding for her doctoral work from the Society for Experimental Biology.[2]

Career

Odekunle's goal in academia was not to remain there as a professor, but rather to "explore a specific scientific area in great depth and contribute to the scientific field" and eventually to apply her scientific skills to therapeutics.[7] As an antibody engineer, she works to clone antibodies from B cells[8] and develop them as potential treatments for specific disease targets such as cancers, viral infections, and bacterial infections. Because of the limitations placed on what scientists in her position in the pharmaceutical industry can say about their work, Odekunle had to develop a voice within the scientific community apart from speaking about things that are confidential. This led her to speaking out on racism in academia and science and to helping to encourage and make more visible those in science who are underrepresented. This she does on various social media platforms.[2] Some of her content, such as her episode on Henrietta Lacks on her YouTube channel has been shared with students at early as well as advanced levels of education.[6]

I’m now using [my] uniqueness to encourage up and coming scientists from diverse backgrounds to follow their passions even if the people who currently represent their fields don’t look like them.

— Dr. Esther Odekunle

In 2021, Odekunle was selected as a Rising Star Finalist in the Black British Business Awards' STEM category.[9]

Publications

References
  1. "Smashing Stereotypes: Dr Esther Odekunle". British Science Week. British Science Association. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  2. "Stride meets Dr Esther Odekunle". Stride (Podcast). 2 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  3. "Esther Odekunle". Visibility STEM Africa. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  4. Weston, Phoebe (31 July 2019). "Mysterious human 'love hormone' turns starfish stomachs inside out, study finds". Independent. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  5. Rivera-Serrano, Efraín. "Unique Scientist: Dr. Esther Odekunle". University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  6. "Starfish, Sperm, and Your Brain!". Sidenote Podcast (Podcast). 24 July 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  7. Yassin, Walid. "The obvious path vs. the right path: Experts discuss the PhD career conundrum". Cell Mentor. CellPress. Archived from the original on 29 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  8. "The Brain, What the heck are dogs thinking and Neurobiologist/Immunity Researcher Dr. Esther Odekunle". The Science Pawdcast (Podcast). 5 September 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  9. "2021 Finalists". Black British Business Awards. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
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