Iain Mattaj | |
---|---|
Born | [1] St Andrews, Scotland | 5 October 1952
Alma mater | |
Awards | Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (2001), [2] Verdienstkreuz (2021) [3] |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Biochemistry, Molecular Cell Biology |
Institutions | Human Technopole, European Molecular Biology Laboratory |
Thesis | Studies on cloned GDH genes (1980) |
Doctoral advisor | John Wooton [4] |
Notable students | Elisa Izaurralde, postdoctoral researcher (1990-1996), Martin Hetzer, postdoctoral researcher (1998-2003), Katharina Ribbeck (2003-2006), Tobias Walther (1998-2002) |
Website | humantechnopole |
Iain William Mattaj (born 5 October 1952 in St Andrews, Scotland) [1] FRS [5] FRSE [4] is a British scientist and Honorary Professor at Heidelberg University in Germany. From 2005 to 2018 he was Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). He stepped down from the position at the end of 2018 following his appointment to Human Technopole. In January 2019 he took office as the first Director of Human Technopole, the new Italian institute for life sciences in Milan, Italy. [6]
Prof. Mattaj has a degree in biochemistry from the University of Edinburgh (BSc) and he obtained a PhD from the University of Leeds [1] in 1980 for research on cloned Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) genes supervised by John Wooton.
He carried out his postdoctoral research at the Friedrich Miescher Institute (CH) and then at the Biocentre, University of Basel. There he worked in the laboratory of Eddy De Robertis and established the research areas he would continue to pursue. In 1985 he moved to EMBL where he took up the position of Group Leader at the Heidelberg Laboratory. In the following years he became Coordinator of the Gene Expression Unit (1990) and then Scientific Director of EMBL (1999) until his appointment as Director General of EMBL (2005). [7]
Mattaj has made a number of important contributions to our knowledge concerning how RNA and proteins are transported between the cell nucleus and cytoplasm. These findings stemmed from his early work on the import and export of ribonucleoproteins — RNA–protein complexes — to and from the cell nucleus. [5]
Prof. Mattaj subsequently uncovered the role of enzymes known as GTPases in the regulation of mitosis — the division of the cell nucleus into two daughter nuclei. Under the influence of Ran, a GTPase signaling protein, the cell cytoskeleton remodels to form the mitotic spindle — a crucial structure in mitosis. Ran also has an important role in nuclear envelope assembly at the end of mitosis. By dissecting Ran's role in facilitating mitosis, Iain is enabling researchers to create improved cell-regeneration therapies. [5] [8] [9]
Mattaj was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1999, [5] a Fellow of Academia Europaea in 1999, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2000, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001, a Fellow of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina in 2005, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences FmedSci, [10] FmedSci, in 2016 and a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) in 2017. In 2001 he was awarded the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine. [11] Over the years he has received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Dundee, Umea University and the University of Leeds. He was Editor of EMBO Journal from 1991-2004 and since 2017 he is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Darwin Trust. [12] In September 2021, during a ceremony at EMBL Heidelberg, Prof Mattaj received the Verdienstkreuz for his commitment to science. [13] In the same month he was also elected as a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to the class for Biosciences. [14]
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to molecular biology research and is supported by 28 member states, one prospect state, and one associate member state. EMBL was created in 1974 and is funded by public research money from its member states. Research at EMBL is conducted by approximately 110 independent research and service groups and teams covering the spectrum of molecular biology and bioinformatics. The list of Groups and Teams at EMBL can be found at www
Dame Kay Elizabeth Davies is a British geneticist. She is Dr Lee's Professor of Anatomy at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford. She is director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) functional genetics unit, a governor of the Wellcome Trust, a director of the Oxford Centre for Gene Function, and a patron and Senior Member of Oxford University Scientific Society. Her research group has an international reputation for work on Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). In the 1980s, she developed a test which allowed for the screening of foetuses whose mothers have a high risk of carrying DMD.
Geoffrey Lilley Smith FRS FMedSci FRSB is a British virologist and medical research authority in the area of Vaccinia virus and the family of Poxviruses. Since 1 October 2011 he is head of the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge and a principal research fellow of the Wellcome Trust. Before that, he was head of the Department of Virology at Imperial College London.
Dame Carol Vivien Robinson, is a British chemist and former president of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2018–2020). She was a Royal Society Research Professor and is the Dr Lee's Professor of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, and a professorial fellow at Exeter College, University of Oxford. She is the first director of the Kavli Institution for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, and she was previously professor of mass spectrometry at the chemistry department of the University of Cambridge.
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Ronald Alfred LaskeyFLSW is a British cell biologist and cancer researcher.
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Roger Sidney Goody is an English biochemist who served as director at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund from 1993 until 2013. Since 2013 he is Emeritus Director of the institute.
Wendy Anne Bickmore is a British genome biologist known for her research on the organisation of genomic material in cells.
Sir Hugh Reginald Brentnall Pelham, is a cell biologist who has contributed to our understanding of the body's response to rises in temperature through the synthesis of heat shock proteins. He served as director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) between 2006 and 2018.
John Tooze FRS was a British research scientist, research administrator, author, science journalist, former executive director of EMBO/EMBC, director of research services at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute and a vice president at The Rockefeller University.
Jonathon Noë Joseph Pines is Head of the Cancer Biology Division at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. He was formerly a senior group leader at the Gurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge.
(Edith) Yvonne JonesFLSW is director of the Cancer Research UK Receptor Structure Research Group at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford. She is widely known for her research on the molecular biology of cell surface receptors and signalling complexes.
Anne Jacqueline Ridley is professor of Cell Biology and Head of School for Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Bristol. She was previously a professor at King's College London.
Sir Richard Henry Treisman is a British scientist specialising in the molecular biology of cancer. Treisman is a director of research at the Francis Crick Institute in London.
Neil Alexander Steven Brockdorff is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and professor in the department of biochemistry at the University of Oxford. Brockdorff's research investigates gene and genome regulation in mammalian development. His interests are in the molecular basis of X-inactivation, the process that evolved in mammals to equalise X chromosome gene expression levels in XX females relative to XY males.
John Francis Xavier Diffley is an American biochemist and Associate Research Director at the Francis Crick Institute. He is known for his contributions to the understanding of how DNA replication is initiated, and how it is subsequently regulated throughout the cell cycle and in response to DNA damage.
Gurdyal Singh Besra is Bardrick Professor of Microbial Physiology & Chemistry at the University of Birmingham.
Caetano Maria Pacheco Pais dos Reis e Sousa is a senior group leader at the Francis Crick Institute and a professor of Immunology at Imperial College London.
“All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” -- "Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.{{cite web}}
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