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.
Details
Chronology
- 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 - Named Harvey Society Lecturer at the Harvey Society in New York
- 1990
- Award - Recipient of National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology
- 1991
- Award - Appointed Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 1991
- Award - Received Honorary Doctorate of Science from Yale University
- 1991
- Education - Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc (Hon)) received from Yale University, USA
- 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 at the University of California in San Francisco, USA
- 1998
- Award - Recipient of Gairdner Foundation International Award
- 1998
- Career position - President of the American Society for Cell Biology
- 1998
- Award - Australia Prize in the field of Molecular Science (joint), Commonwealth of Australia
- 1998
- Award - Recipient of Australia Prize
- 1999 -
- Career position - Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California in San Francisco, USA
- 1999
- Award - Recipient of Keio Medical Science Prize
- 1999
- Award - Named California Scientist of the Year
- 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 - Recipient of the Genetics Prize from the Peter Gruber Foundation
- 2006
- Award - Received Honorary Doctorate of Science from Harvard University
- 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 - 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)
- 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 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 (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]
Related entries
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
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q26321. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/8593551. Details
- 'Blackburn, Elizabeth (1948 - )', Recipients [of the Prime Minister's Prizes for Science, 2000 - 2017], Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, 2017, https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20171113020018/http://www.science.gov.au/community/PrimeMinistersPrizesforScience/Recipients/1990-1999/Pages/ElizabethBlackburn.aspx. Details
- 'Blackburn, Elizabeth H', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475754. Details
Resource Sections
- 'Elizabeth H. Blackburn - Biographical', in Nobelprize.org, The Nobel Foundation, 2009, http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2009/blackburn.html. Details
- Carey, Jane, '"What's a nice girl like you doing with a Nobel Prize?" Elizabeth Blackburn, "Australia's" first woman Nobel laureate and women's scientific leadership', in Seizing the initiative: Australian women leaders in politics, workplaces and communities, Francis, Rosemary; Grimshaw, Patricia; and Standish, Ann, eSchoarship Research Centre, ]Parkville, Vic.], 2012, https://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/sti/pdfs/19_Carey.pdf. Details
Reviews
- Elizabeth Blackburn and the Story of Telomeres
Ankeny, Rachel A., Historical Records of Australian Science, 21 (2), (2010), 289-90, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR10012. Details
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