Anthony James Pawson (18 October 1952 – 7 August 2013) was a British-born Canadian scientist whose research revolutionised the understanding of

signal transduction Signal transduction is the process by which a chemical or physical signal is transmitted through a cell as a series of molecular events, most commonly protein phosphorylation catalyzed by protein kinases, which ultimately results in a cellula ...

, the molecular mechanisms by which cells respond to external cues, and how they communicate with each other. He identified the phosphotyrosine-binding Src homology 2 ( SH2 domain) as the prototypic non-catalytic interaction module. SH2 domains serve as a model for a large family of protein modules that act together to control many aspects of cellular signalling. Since the discovery of SH2 domains, hundreds of different modules have been identified in many proteins.

Biography

Born in Maidstone, England, the son of the sportsman and writer Tony Pawson, and botanist and high-school teacher Hilarie, he was the eldest of three children. He was educated at Winchester College and Clare College, Cambridge, where he received an MA in biochemistry followed by a PhD from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

in 1976. From 1976 to 1980 he pursued postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley. From 1981 to 1985, he was Assistant Professor in microbiology at the University of British Columbia. Pawson was a Distinguished Investigator and former Director of Research at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital and Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto both of which he joined in 1985. Pawson died on 7 August 2013 of unspecified causes at the age of 60.

Honours and awards

* 1994 Gairdner Foundation International Award * 1994 Fellow of the Royal Society of London and the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

* 1995

Robert L. Noble Prize The Robert L. Noble Prize (not to be confused with the Nobel Prize) is awarded each year by the Canadian Cancer Society to researchers whose contributions have led to a significant advance in cancer research. The prize consists of 2,000 Canadian d ...

from the National Cancer Institute of Canada * 1998 Pezcoller-AACR International Award for Cancer Research * 1998

Heineken Prize The Heineken Prizes for Arts and Sciences consist of 11 awards biannually bestowed by Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The prizes are named in honor of Henry Pierre Heineken, son of founder Gerard Adriaan Heineken, Alfred Heineken, ...

for Biochemistry and Biophysics,

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

* 1998 The Royal Society of Canada Flavelle Medal for meritorious achievement in biological science * 2000 J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine * 2004 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University * 2004 Poulsson Medal, the Norwegian Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology * 2004 Associate of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

(US) * 2004 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences * 2005 Wolf Prize in Medicine "for his discovery of protein domains essential for mediating protein-protein interactions in cellular signaling pathways, and the insights this research has provided into cancer" * 2005 The

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...

(The Queen's Medal) from The Royal Society of London * 2006

Companion of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes ...

* 2007 Premiers Summit Award * 2007

Howard Taylor Ricketts Award Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also proba ...

from University of Chicago * 2008 Kyoto Prize – "Japan's Nobel" for "Proposing and Proving the Concept of Adapter Molecules in the Signal Transduction" * 2012

Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates Clarivate Citation Laureates formerly Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates is a list of candidates considered likely to win the Nobel Prize in their respective field. The candidates are so named based on the citation impact of their published resear ...

, candidate for Nobel Prize in Medicine "for identification of the phosphotyrosine binding SH2 domain and demonstrating its function in protein-protein interactions" * 2013 Annual award of the

Canadian National Proteomics Network Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

, thereafter named the ''CNPN-Tony Pawson Proteomics Award''.

References

External links

* * *
Anthony Pawson official website
at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize

Online Publications (University of Toronto)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pawson, Tony 1952 births 2013 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Alumni of King's College London English biochemists English emigrants to Canada Canadian biochemists Canadian molecular biologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Fellows of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Kyoto laureates in Basic Sciences Members of the Order of Ontario Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Winners of the Heineken Prize Officers of the Order of Canada University of British Columbia faculty University of Toronto faculty Wolf Prize in Medicine laureates Royal Medal winners English molecular biologists People from Maidstone Canadian Fellows of the Royal Society