[5] Patricia Simpson graduated with her PhD in 1976[6] from Universite de Paris VI, Pierre and Marie Curie University.
Specifically, her research explores the pattern formation of sensory bristles in fruit flies.
By a study of genetic mosaics she demonstrated that cells develop into particular structures by means of local interactions with their neighbours.
She has made major contributions to the understanding of the process of lateral inhibition, whereby initially equivalent cells interact between themselves and subsequently adopt different fates.
This process involves a conserved cellular receptor and is equally important in mammals; the work can be related to studies on human development and disease.