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
The SH2 (Src Homology 2) domain is a structurally conserved protein domain contained within the Src oncoprotein and in many other intracellular signal-transducing proteins. SH2 domains allow proteins containing those domains to dock to phosphory ...
) 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
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
, 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
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...
and
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...
, 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
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. From 1981 to 1985, he was Assistant Professor in microbiology at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
.
Pawson was a Distinguished Investigator and former Director of Research at the
Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
The Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute is a medical research, medical research institute in Toronto, Ontario and part of the Sinai Health System. It was originally established in 1985 as the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, the research ...
of
Mount Sinai Hospital and Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
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
The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a p ...
* 1994 Fellow of the
Royal Society of London
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
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 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
The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry is an annual prize awarded by Columbia University to a researcher or group of researchers who have made an outstanding contribution in basic research in the fields of biology or biochemist ...
from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
* 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
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
* 2005
Wolf Prize in Medicine
The Wolf Prize in Medicine is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Arts. The P ...
"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
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
* 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 from
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
* 2008
Kyoto Prize
The is Japan's highest private award for lifetime achievement in the arts and sciences. It is given not only to those that are top representatives of their own respective fields, but to "those who have contributed significantly to the scientific, ...
– "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, thereafter named the ''CNPN-Tony Pawson Proteomics Award''.
References
External links
*
*
*
Anthony Pawson official websiteat the
Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
The Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute is a medical research, medical research institute in Toronto, Ontario and part of the Sinai Health System. It was originally established in 1985 as the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, the research ...
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