Plaque unveiled to honour Lancaster woman who led the way in vaccine research

Prof Lady Noreen Murray was born Noreen Parker in the village of Read near Padiham, Lancashire, in 1935.

At the age of five her family moved to Bolton-le-Sands and she later attended Lancaster Girls' Grammar School .

After school she gained her BSc at Kings College London and later a PhD at the University of Birmingham.

She worked in the groundbreaking field of molecular genetics with several research organisations including Stanford University in California.

Noreen had to overcome considerable prejudice from male colleagues who saw science as a male dominated activity.

Prof Murray was a committed researcher and among many other achievements, together with her husband Kenneth Murray, she developed the first molecular engineered vaccine for use on humans, in this case against Hepatitis B.

This led the way to vaccines such as the ones currently used against Covid.

All the royalties from the vaccine were donated to a charitable trust, which provides bursaries to foreign students and has paid for two buildings at Edinburgh University.

She worked tirelessly until her death from Motor Neurone Disease in 2011.

The plaque was unveiled this week by Linda Altham, a childhood friend of Noreen.

Frank Sutcliffe, a cousin of Noreen, instigated the creation of the plaque and contributed to its cost, with the rest covered by Lancaster Civic Vision.

Guests at the plaque unveiling included Frank, Linda, LGGS head Chris Beard, head of sixth form Judy Dobson, two rising science stars from the sixth form, and Lancaster Civic Vision members Will Gale, Howard and Liz Feather, and Peter and Ting Wiltshire.