Oral History Collection

Magdalena Skipper

Magdalena Skipper, Ph.D., is the editor-in-chief of Nature. Dr. Skipper trained as a geneticist at the University of Nottingham as an undergraduate, and later completed her Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in Jonathan Hodgkin’s lab. After completing her Ph.D., she joined the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the University of Cambridge and later the Imperial Cancer Research Fund before shifting her career in a more editorial direction. In this interview, Dr. Skipper will recount her scientific career at Nottingham and later at Cambridge, where she shares memories of famed biologist and Human Genome Project (HGP) architect, John Sulston. She also describes her extensive experience in various editorial positions. In this interview, Dr. Skipper provides key insights into the legacies and importance of the HGP and relates key themes in “big science” and consortium research.