Spotlight Profiles

Science and innovation impacts our daily lives, from the technology we use to developments in healthcare, as well as helping us to address global challenges such as climate change and access to clean energy. Diverse teams are essential for the development of solutions which benefit everyone, yet we might often struggle to name LGBT+ scientists and innovators.

Alongside celebrating LGBT+ people, it is important to highlight the harm that LGBT+ people have historically faced as a result of the ways in which science has been explored and misapplied in the past, such as through the medicalisation and pathologisation of LGBT+ identities, and how we still need to address this today. 

The 2026 theme for LGBTQIA+ History Month aims to highlight the contributions of LGBTQIA+ people historically and today, and to raise awareness of the people behind them. We have selected a few for you to learn about:

Peter Landin: Programming Visionary, Activist and Radical Thinker

Peter John Landin was a visionary British computer scientist whose ideas transformed the foundations of modern programming languages. He was active in civil rights, nuclear disarmament, feminist advocacy, and LGBTQ+ equality. His obituary describes him as both an “original thinker” and a “gay campaigner,” someone who brought the same uncompromising curiosity to politics as he did to computing. 

Born in Sheffield in 1930, Landin studied mathematics at Clare College, Cambridge, where his fascination with logic and computation began to take shape. His early career in the emerging computing industry immersed him in the challenge of uniting mathematical logic with the ad‑hoc programming practices of the time.

Landin’s ground breaking insight was recognising that lambda calculus could model the structure and behaviour of programming languages, a discovery that seeded the birth of functional programming and influenced the development of denotational semantics. His work on ISWIM, the SECD machine, the J‑operator, and even the concept of syntactic sugar reshaped how computer scientists thought about language design.

His contributions extended beyond theory. Landin played a significant role in the development of ALGOL 60 and introduced generations of computer scientists to recursion and the expressive power of clean language design. His work influenced leading thinkers—including Tony Hoare, who credited Landin’s teaching with enabling the elegant expression of algorithms like Quicksort.

In the 1970s and 80s, Landin helped establish and grow our very own Computer Science department here at Queen Mary University of London, where he became Professor of Theoretical Computation and later an Emeritus Professor. His intellectual influence was so profound that, in 2012, Queen Mary renamed our computer science building the Peter Landin Building in his honour. Beyond academia, Landin was known as a politically engaged, complex, and deeply principled figure. 

Peter Landin’s legacy sits firmly at the intersection of mathematics, language design, and social justice. His work continues to shape the languages programmers use today, while his activism reminds us that innovation is not just technical, it is rooted in a commitment to questioning norms and expanding what is possible.

Barbara Burford: A Pioneer of Science, Innovation and LGBTQIA+ Equality

Barbara Burford’s legacy sits at the intersection of science, social change, and LGBTQIA+ history. She proved that innovation is not only about technology or medicine, but also about the courage to imagine better systems, fairer workplaces, and a more inclusive society. Her contributions continue to inspire those working across healthcare, equality, and the arts, marking her as a true pioneer of Science and Innovation

Barbara Yvonne Veronica Burford (1944 - 2010) stands as a remarkable figure whose life wove together scientific excellence, public‑sector innovation, creative expression, and a powerful commitment to equality. As a Black lesbian woman working across medicine, technology, and government at a time when representation was scarce, Barbara’s legacy continues to resonate across multiple communities. She is celebrated today as an LGBTQIA+ icon not only for who she was, but for the transformative change she led.

Born in Jamaica and raised by her grandmother before joining her family in London at the age of seven, Barbara grew up navigating the complexities of migration, identity, and belonging. These early experiences helped shape her lifelong dedication to inclusion and social justice. She studied medicine at London University and began her NHS career in 1964, specialising in electron microscopy, a field in which few women, and even fewer women of colour, were represented.

Her scientific achievements were extraordinary. At the Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Barbara led the pulmonary vascular laboratory during the 1980s. Working closely with Professor Sheila Haworth, her team contributed to significant breakthroughs in heart and lung transplant surgery for infants and children. These innovations expanded what was medically possible and opened new pathways in paediatric care. Her work in this area represents a profound contribution to the scientific landscape of the UK.

Alongside her scientific career, Barbara was deeply involved in feminist and LGBTQIA+ communities in London. She wrote poetry, fiction, and plays, forms of expression that allowed her to explore identity, love, race, and justice. Her novella The Threshing Floor and her contributions to A Dangerous Knowing: Four Black Women Poets remain influential pieces of Black British feminist writing. Through literature, she created visibility at a time when queer Black women were rarely represented in the arts.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Barbara became one of the UK's leading voices on equality in public services. Moving to Leeds to support major NHS IT developments, she later created the groundbreaking Positively Diverse programme, an approach to organisational development that helped embed equality into NHS culture. Her work was decades ahead of its time, emphasising structural change, staff engagement, and the lived experiences of marginalised groups.

As Director of Equality and Diversity first at the Department of Health, then at the Department for Work and Pensions, Barbara shaped national policy at senior levels. She built frameworks, staff networks, and inclusive recruitment practices that transformed workplaces and opened doors for LGBTQIA+ and minority ethnic staff. Many of the systems she designed are still in use today.

Barbara’s life is also a reminder of love and authenticity. She was open about her identity and is survived by her civil partner, Joy Howard, and her daughter, Sarah, an important visibility at a time when same‑sex partnerships had only just gained legal recognition.

Barbara Burford’s legacy sits at the intersection of science, social change, and LGBTQIA+ history. She proved that innovation is not only about technology or medicine, but also about the courage to imagine better systems, fairer workplaces, and a more inclusive society. Her contributions continue to inspire those working across healthcare, equality, and the arts, marking her as a true pioneer of Science and Innovation.

Elke Mackenzie: Pioneer of Botany, Antarctic Exploration and LGBTQIA+ History

Her story remains an inspiration across the natural sciences and a reminder of the need for inclusive, supportive scientific communities where everyone can thrive as their authentic selves.

Elke Mackenzie (1911 - 1990) was a botanist, polar explorer and lichen specialist whose scientific contributions and personal resilience make her a powerful figure in LGBTQIA+ history. Born in London and raised in Scotland, she developed a deep interest in the natural world from a young age. She went on to study Botany at the University of Edinburgh before continuing her academic work at the University of Munich, where she focused on plant science and the organisms that would define her career: lichens.

After completing her studies, Mackenzie joined the British Museum, where she worked as curator of the Lichen Herbarium. Her expertise and meticulous approach earned her a reputation as one of the most skilled lichenologists of her generation. This role placed her among a small number of scientists who were systematically documenting and classifying lichens - organisms whose ecology is essential to understanding climate, soil formation and environmental change.

During the Second World War, Mackenzie’s expertise led to an unexpected and highly demanding assignment: participation in covert Antarctic expeditions. These missions combined scientific research with wartime strategic interests, sending teams to some of the harshest conditions on Earth. Mackenzie undertook this work with determination and exceptional skill. She collected and documented many lichen species that were previously unknown to science, significantly expanding global understanding of Antarctic biodiversity at a time when the continent remained largely unstudied.

Her fieldwork and publications earned her considerable respect in the international scientific community. She later held senior roles in major institutions, including the Farlow Herbarium at Harvard University, which she eventually led. However, by the 1960s she was facing growing mental and emotional strain. In 1971, after many years of internal struggle, she was diagnosed with a voice box disorder and what may modernly be called gender dysphoria. She affirmed her identity and started to live as Elke Mackenzie.

Her transition, while a profound step in her personal life, came at a time when academia was far less inclusive than it is today. Rather than supporting her, the scientific community around her responded with discrimination and misunderstanding. This hostile environment forced her departure from her position at Harvard and into early retirement. Although she gradually stepped back from formal botanical research, she continued to contribute by translating scientific texts, engaging in personal scholarship, and maintaining intellectual connections.

Even as she moved away from academic life, her legacy within lichenology continued to grow. Two genera and nine species of lichens have been named in her honour—recognition reserved only for the most influential figures in the field. Cape Lamb on Vega Island in Antarctica, where she conducted some of her most significant fieldwork, also bears her name. Mackenzie was further recognised through the award of the Polar Medal, making her one of the few women of her era to receive this distinction for contributions to polar science.

Though her obituaries often misrepresented her identity, they also consistently praised her integrity, work ethic and scientific brilliance. Today, Elke Mackenzie is increasingly acknowledged not only as a pioneering botanist and explorer, but as an important figure in LGBTQIA+ scientific history. Her life illustrates the loss that occurs when institutions fail to support their members and the extraordinary achievements possible when individuals persist in the face of adversity.

Jemma Redmond: Intersex Innovator, Bio-Printing Pioneer and Visionary Technologist

Jemma Redmond (1978–2016) was an extraordinary Irish innovator whose work in bioprinting placed her at the forefront of one of the most transformative scientific fields of the 21st century. An intersex woman and a self‑taught engineer with remarkable determination, she was driven by a deep belief that technology should be accessible and capable of improving lives. 

Born in Tallaght, Ireland, Jemma grew up with an instinctive curiosity about how things worked. She often recalled getting into trouble as a child for taking objects apart simply to understand their mechanisms. This hands‑on approach (creative, inquisitive, and unafraid of breaking things to rebuild them) became a defining quality of her scientific practice. Long before she entered the world of biotechnology, she was already thinking like an engineer.

Jemma’s intersex identity had a profound influence on the direction of her work. Discovering she was infertile and subsequently learning about her intersex status were pivotal moments in her life. They motivated her interest in 3D printing human tissue and organs, not only as an abstract scientific challenge but as a deeply personal endeavour. She envisioned a world where intersex people and others experiencing fertility issues could access technologies that had once seemed impossible.

Her path into bioprinting was unconventional. Instead of following a traditional academic route, Jemma conducted experiments in her own kitchen, teaching herself how to modify and rebuild consumer‑grade 3D printers. Through trial, error, and extraordinary ingenuity, she succeeded in creating a low‑cost 3D bioprinter capable of printing using multiple materials, a breakthrough that made global headlines. She named this first machine Revolution, a fitting title for a device that challenged assumptions about who could participate in advanced biotechnology.

In 2014, Redmond co‑founded Ourobotics, a company dedicated to producing affordable bioprinters that could be used by researchers, artists, designers, and biohackers. Jemma believed that the next great leaps in bioprinting would come not only from laboratories, but from creative communities and people with unconventional approaches to problem‑solving. She championed women in science and worked to ensure that emerging groups in the maker and biohacker movements had the tools they needed to innovate.

Jemma had far‑reaching visions for the future of human biology. She imagined organs that could be printed stronger, more efficient or enhanced, perhaps even embedded with sensors for health monitoring. Her work combined scientific realism with a willingness to push beyond conventional boundaries. This blend of practicality and imagination made her one of Europe’s most promising technology pioneers and earned her several awards, including major European innovation prizes.

Despite her achievements, Jemma faced significant challenges. Her visible queerness and intersex identity made her a target of harassment in public spaces, a burden she should never have had to carry. Colleagues later reflected on the remarkable fact that she accomplished so much while working largely in isolation, without the full support that many of her peers took for granted.

Jemma Redmond died suddenly at the age of 38, cutting short a career that was already reshaping the field of bioprinting. Her work left behind a powerful message: that innovation thrives when people who have been marginalised, underestimated, or excluded are given the space to dream and create. Today, she is remembered as a visionary technologist, a champion of accessibility in science, and an important figure in LGBTQIA+ and intersex history whose ideas continue to influence the future of regenerative medicine.

Robert Boyle: Science Pioneer, Early Experimentalist and a Hidden Figure in Queer History

Today, Boyle stands not only as a father of modern chemistry, but as a figure whose life invites greater acknowledgement of the diverse people who shaped science from its earliest beginnings. His story reminds us that queer people have always been part of scientific discovery, even when their identities were hidden, understated, or written out of official histories. 

Robert Boyle (1627–1691) stands as one of the most influential scientific minds of the 17th century. A pioneering chemist, philosopher, and early experimentalist, he helped establish the foundations of modern scientific inquiry. Yet alongside his intellectual achievements lies another dimension of his life, one often overlooked in traditional histories. Several historians have argued that Boyle was likely a queer man, a perspective that opens up important conversations about the overlooked LGBTQIA+ contributions that shaped early scientific institutions, including the Royal Society.

Born in Ireland to an aristocratic family, Boyle was educated at Eton before travelling across Europe, where he became deeply engaged with new ideas emerging from continental philosophy, alchemy, and natural science. His travels brought him into contact with thinkers who challenged medieval understandings of the natural world. Boyle became committed to experimentation, observation, and systematic investigation, principles that would later underpin the scientific method.

In the mid‑17th century Boyle joined a circle of scholars sometimes called the “Invisible College,” an informal group dedicated to experimental science. This network later evolved into the Royal Society, founded formally in 1660. Although Boyle was not the founder, he quickly became one of its leading scientific figures. His work on gases resulted in what is now known as Boyle’s Law, describing the inverse relationship between pressure and volume, a fundamental principle still taught in physics and chemistry.

Throughout his life Boyle never married, and his personal writings and recorded experiences have led some historians to suggest that he was likely gay. Accounts from his time in Florence describe intimate encounters with older men when he was a teenager, an experience that scholars argue shaped aspects of his personality, including his later preference for reclusive living, deep religiosity, and a devotion to scholarship over family life. While the historical record is necessarily limited, Boyle’s life invites us to acknowledge the presence of queer people in periods where their identities were rarely recorded, and often deliberately erased.

As a scientist, Boyle was prolific. He designed innovative apparatus, conducted thousands of experiments, and championed transparency and reproducibility in scientific practice. His writings helped separate chemistry from alchemy and paved the way for more rigorous, experimental approaches to studying matter. Beyond physics and chemistry, he wrote on medicine, theology, and natural philosophy, maintaining a lifelong belief that scientific discovery and spiritual inquiry could coexist.

Boyle was also known for mentoring young scientists. One of his assistants, Robert Hooke, went on to become one of the Royal Society’s greatest experimenters. Boyle’s collaborative spirit shaped the culture of the young Society, which valued shared knowledge, experimentation, and collective progress.

In his later years, Boyle moved permanently to London, living with his sister Lady Ranelagh and continuing to attend Royal Society meetings. Although he was elected President of the Royal Society in 1680, he declined the role because it required taking religious oaths he did not support.

Robert Boyle’s legacy is vast. His work sits at the foundation of modern chemistry, and his influence on scientific thinking endures. But recognising him as part of LGBTQIA+ history allows us to see early science more fully.