Susan Wray

Susan Wray is professor of cellular and molecular physiology at the University of Liverpool and editor-in-chief of Physiological Reports. She is director of the Centre of Better Births in Liverpool Women's Hospital. The Centre was opened in 2013 with funding of £2.5 million with the objective of basic scientists working together with clinicians on problems during pregnancy. Along with Zarko Alfirevic, she leads the Harris Wellbeing Preterm Birth Centre. Wray is the director of the University of Liverpool Athena SWAN and team leader for the Institute of Translational Medicine.

After attending Chadderton Grammar School for Girls, Wray received her B.Sc. in physiology and, in 1979, her Ph.D. for work on gestational changes in the connective tissue of the uterus from University College London

In 1990 she moved to the University of Liverpool where she became a professor in 1996. She was head of the Department of Physiology from 2004 to 2008.

Wray's early research focused on changes of connective tissue in the uterus during and after pregnancy. She then helped develop spectroscopic methods to characterize metabolism in human neonates. Since moving to Liverpool, she has focused on the relationship between metabolism and function in smooth muscle. In particular, she has elucidated the effects of pH on contractility. In order to elucidate the underlying mechanisms, she performed some of the first measurements of intracellular calcium in smooth muscle. Subsequent work into the relationship between calcium and excitability led to new understanding of the origin of the refractory period in the ureter. Her translational work has led to measurements of lactate to predict labour outcome. She has also shown that problems of labour experienced by obese mothers can be explained by impaired smooth muscle contractility. In 2015, she demonstrated a novel mechanism whereby repetitive, transient episodes of hypoxia increase uterine contractions during labour.

Wray has been engaged with gender equality and mentoring throughout her career. She is an Academic Champion for the Higher Education Foundation AURORA Women in Leadership Scheme. She gave the inaugural Athena Swan Lecture at Edge Hill University in 2016. She also worked on the SUSTAIN initiative for women in science. She co-edited the book "Women physiologists: centenary celebrations and beyond for The Physiological Society ISBN 978-0-9933410-0-7.

Wray was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2002, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (2006) and a Member of the Academia Europaea (2008). She was awarded the Joan Mott Prize Lecture of The Physiological Society in 2006 and elected as an Honorary Member in 2015. In 2012 she was voted the Liverpool Echo's Knowledge Hero.