Professor Cathy Herbrand is  Professor of Medical and Family Sociology and the Director of the Centre for Reproduction Research at De Montfort University. She is also an appointed member of the Belgian Advisory Committee on Bioethics. Her research interests lie in the sociological and anthropological study of reproduction, new family forms, biotechnologies and genetics, with a particular focus on gender issues and inequalities.

She has produced pioneering work and published empirical and theoretical papers on the social implications of reproductive and genetic healthcare technologies, with a focus on two main areas: 1) the interactions between scientific progress, policies and patients’ lives, including in the context of mitochondrial disorders and egg donation; 2) the transformations of family norms and regulations arising from the development of lesbian and gay parenting.