Courtesy of Mary Osborn
Mary Osborn helped pioneer immunofluorescence microscopy, and in her images, the three-dimensional cells dance across a black screen in flecks of colored light, helping scientists see new aspects to diseases such as muscular dystrophy and cancer. Her diligence and focus in pursuing this technology for understanding cell structures has provided her a place among Europe's most prominent scientists: She ranked among the most highly cited researchers during the early decades of the technology's development. Osborn has also received several awards, including the Carl Zeiss Prize and the L'Oreal/UNESCO Prize for Women in Science.
This single-mindedness also has helped her develop another passion: promoting female scientists in Europe, where many countries seem immune to change. "She's extremely goal oriented, really knows what she wants, [and is] very business like," says Mineke Bosch, a professor at the Centre for Gender and Diversity, University Maastricht, the Nether-lands. Bosch and ...
