Person

Blackburn, Elizabeth (1948 - )

AC FAA FRS

Born
26 November 1948
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Occupation
Biochemist, Biophysicist and Educator

Summary

Elizabeth Blackburn discovered the ribonucleoprotein enzyme telomerase. Blackburn and her research team at the University of California, San Francisco have worked with a variety of organisms and human cancer cells gaining an understanding of telomerase and telomere biology. Her work in this area has been published widely in peer-reviewed journals.

In 2009 Blackburn and her research partners, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.

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Details

Chronology

1970
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Melbourne
1972
Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Melbourne
1975
Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Cambridge, UK
1975 - 1977
Career position - Postdoctoral work in molecular and cellular biology at Yale University, USA
1978
Career position - Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, San Francisco, USA
1978 - 1983
Career position - Assistant Professor, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1983 - 1986
Career position - Associate Professor, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1986 - 1990
Career position - Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1988
Award - Recipient of Eli Lilly Research Award for Microbiology and Immunology
1990 -
Career position - Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1990
Award - Recipient of National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology
1990
Award - Named Harvey Society Lecturer at the Harvey Society in New York
1991
Education - Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc (Hon)), Yale University, USA
1991
Award - Honorary Doctorate of Science from Yale University
1991
Award - Appointed Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1992
Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
1993
Award - Appointed Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology
1993 - 1999
Career position - Chair in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1998
Career position - President, American Society for Cell Biology
1998
Award - Recipient of Gairdner Foundation International Award
1998
Award - Recipient of Australia Prize
1998
Award - Australia Prize in the field of Molecular Science (joint), Commonwealth of Australia
1999 -
Career position - Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1999
Award - Named California Scientist of the Year
1999
Award - Recipient of Keio Medical Science Prize
1999
Award - Recipient of Harvey Prize
2000
Award - Recipient of American Association for Cancer Research's G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award
2000
Award - Recipient of the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award
2000
Award - Appointed Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science
2000
Award - Recipient of the American Cancer Society's Medal of Honor
2001
Award - E.B. Wilson Award of the American Society for Cell Biology
2001
Award - Recipient of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Alfred P. Sloan Award
2001
Award - Recipient of AACR-Pezcoller Foundation International Award for Cancer Research
2003
Award - Recipient of the Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Award
2004
Award - Recipient of the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine
2005
Award - Recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science of The Franklin Institute
2006
Award - Honorary Doctorate of Science from Harvard University
2006
Award - Recipient of the Genetics Prize from the Peter Gruber Foundation
2006
Award - Co-recipient of Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences from the Wiley Foundation (shared with Carol W. Greider)
2006
Award - Co-recipient of Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (shared with Carol W. Greider and Jack Szostak)
2007
Award - Honorary Doctorate of Science from Princeton University
2007
Award - Co-recipient of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (shared with Carol W. Greider and Joseph G. Gall)
2007
Award - Corresponding Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
2008
Award - Recipient of L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science
2008
Career position - President, American Society for Cell Biology for the year 1998
2009
Award - Recipient of Mike Hogg Award
2009
Award - Co-recipient of Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (shared with Carol W. Greider)
2009
Award - Co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (with Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak)
2010
Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) - For eminent service to science as a leader in the field of biomedical research, particularly through the discovery of telomerase and its role in the development of cancer and ageing of cells and through contributions as an international adviser in Bioethics.
2010
Career position - President, American Association for Cancer Research [for the year 2010]
2011
Award - Curtin Medal for Excellence in Medical Research, John Curtin School of Medical Research

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

  • McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Books

  • Brady, Catherine, Elizabeth Blackburn and the Story of Telomeres (Cambridge, Mass.: MiT Press, 2009), 392 pp. Details

Resources

Resource Sections

Reviews

See also

  • Herd, Margaret ed., Who's who in Australia 2002 (Melbourne: Crown Content, 2001), 2020 pp. Details

Ailie Smith

Created: 11 February 2003, Last modified: 16 November 2022

EOAS ID: biogs/P004176b.htm

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