"There are no new places to discover on this Earth, but there are many, many new ideas to discover — new things to find out about the way the world works."

Dame Frances Mary Ashcroft is a British geneticist known for her pioneering research on ion channels. She holds the position of Royal Society GlaxoSmithKline Research Professor at the University Laboratory of Physiology at the University of Oxford. She also serves as a director of the Oxford Centre for Gene Function.

Ashcroft has authored several influential books exploring the intricacies of ion channels and their impact on human health and disease. Recognized with prestigeous accolades, Ashcroft is the winner of the L'oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science and the 2023 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science.