Clare Blackburn, FRSE, is Professor of Tissue Stem Cell Biology at the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Regenerative Medicine. Her research focuses on biology of the thymus, the essential primary immune system organ in which T cells are generated. Her lab pioneered the development of an in vitro cell type, ‘induced thymic epithelial cells’, that may provide a building block for generating thymic organoids for transplantation or in vitro T cell production.  In addition to her research, Clare leads a large-scale outreach and public engagement programme. Originally focussed on stem cell biology and regenerative medicine (www.eurostemcell.org) this has recently expanded to encompass the broad cell and gene therapy field. The new project, ‘EuroGCT’, brings together 47 partners across Europe including the major European Stem Cell networks and Gene and Cell Therapy learned societies. Its goal is to support better informed decision-making related to cell and gene-based therapies through provision of accurate and accessible information about the use of cells and genetic material to treat disease.