Biographical entry Blackburn, Elizabeth (1948 - )

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.

Details

Events

1970

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc) completed at the University of Melbourne

1972

Education - Master of Science (MSc) completed at the University of Melbourne

1975

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) completed at the University of Cambridge, UK

1975 - 1977

Career position - Postdoctoral work in molecular and cellular biology at Yale University, USA

1978

Career position - Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, USA

1978 - 1983

Career position - Assistant Professor at the University of California in San Francisco, USA

1983 - 1986

Career position - Associate Professor at the University of California in San Francisco, USA

1986 - 1990

Career position - Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at the 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 at the 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

Award - Appointed Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences

1991

Education - Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc (Hon)) received from Yale University, USA

1991

Award - Received Honorary Doctorate of Science from Yale University

1992

Award - Appointed Fellow of Royal Society of London

1993

Award - Appointed Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology

1993 - 1999

Career position - Chair in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California in San Francisco, USA

1998

Career position - President of the American Society for Cell Biology

1998

Award - Recipient of Australia Prize

1998

Award - Recipient of Gairdner Foundation International Award

1999 -

Career position - Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California in San Francisco, USA

1999

Award - Recipient of Harvey Prize

1999

Award - Recipient of Keio Medical Science Prize

1999

Award - Named California Scientist of the Year

2000

Award - Appointed Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science

2000

Award - Recipient of the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award

2000

Award - Recipient of American Association for Cancer Research's G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award

2000

Award - Recipient of the American Cancer Society's Medal of Honor

2001

Award - Recipient of AACR-Pezcoller Foundation International Award for Cancer Research

2001

Award - Recipient of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Alfred P. Sloan Award

2001

Award - E.B.Wilson Award of the American Society for Cell Biology

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 - 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 - Received Honorary Doctorate of Science from Harvard University

2006

Award - Co-recipient of Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (shared with Carol W. Greider and Jack Szostak)

2007

Award - Appointed Fellow of Australian Academy of Science

2007

Award - Corresponding Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science *Recipient of the UCSF Women's Faculty Association Award

2007

Award - Received 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)

2008

Award - Recipient of L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science

2008

Career position - President of the 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

2010

Award - Named Companion of the Order of Australia (Australia Day Honours)

2010

Career position - President of the American Association for Cancer Research for the year 2010

Related entries

Published resources

Online Resources

• 'Elizabeth H. Blackburn - Biographical', in Nobelprize.org, The Nobel Foundation, 2009, http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2009/blackburn.html. Details
• National Library of Australia, 'Blackburn, Elizabeth', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475754. Details

See also

• Herd, Margaret (ed.), Who's Who in Australia 2002, 38 edn, Crown Content, Melbourne, 2001, 2020 pp. Details