Anita Elizabeth Harding (17 September 1952 – 11 September 1995) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

, and Professor of Clinical Neurology at the Institute of Neurology of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. She is known for the discovery with Ian Holt and John Morgan-Hughes of the "first identification of a mitochondrial DNA

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA replication, DNA or viral repl ...

in human disease and the concept of tissue

heteroplasmy Heteroplasmy is the presence of more than one type of organellar genome (mitochondrial DNA or plastid DNA) within a cell or individual. It is an important factor in considering the severity of mitochondrial diseases. Because most eukaryotic cells c ...

of mutant mitochondrial DNA", published in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' in 1986. In 1985 she established the first neurogenetics research group in the United Kingdom at the

UCL Institute of Neurology The UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology is an institute within the Faculty of Brain Sciences of University College London (UCL) and is located in London, United Kingdom. Together with the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, an ...

Biography

Born in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, Harding was educated at the

King Edward VI High School for Girls King Edward VI High School for Girls ''(KEHS)'' () is an independent secondary school in Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest o ...

and the Royal Free Hospital Medical School, where she qualified in 1975. She married neurology professor P.K. Thomas two years later, and trained as a neurologist. She pursued further clinical training at

Hammersmith Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of ...

and the

National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (informally the National Hospital or Queen Square) is a neurological hospital in Queen Square, London. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It was the ...

, and worked with laboratories in Cardiff and the United States to learn the burgeoning field of neurogenetics. In 1985 she established the first neurogenetics research group in the United Kingdom at the

(UCLIN) in

Queen Square, London Queen Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of central London. Many of its buildings are associated with medicine, particularly neurology. Construction Queen Square was originally constructed between 1716 and 1725. It was formed ...

while still a lecturer at that institution. In 1986 she was a senior lecturer at the UCLIN; a position she held for nine years. In 1988 Harding played an instrumental role in the establishment of the

European Neurological Society European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

. She died of colorectal cancer, 6 days before her 43rd birthday and shortly before she was to take up the Chair in Clinical Neurology at the UCLIN. A person with great charm and wit, she referred to herself as the "wobbly doctor". On learning of her terminal condition, she is reported to have said ''" least I won't have to buy

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturi ...

". In 1996, she was posthumously awarded the ABN Medal by the

Association of British Neurologists The Association of British Neurologists is a professional organisation founded in 1932 and expanded to include overseas membership in 1937. The Association produces guidelines for the treatment of neurological conditions. Members At 31 December ...

. In 2019, the journal ''

'' named their custom typeface in her honor.

Work

Harding made several significant contributions in the field of inherited neurologic disorders. Her major achievements were: * Classification of the

peripheral neuropathies Peripheral neuropathy, often shortened to neuropathy, is a general term describing disease affecting the peripheral nerves, meaning nerves beyond the brain and spinal cord. Damage to peripheral nerves may impair sensation, movement, gland, or or ...

and

hereditary ataxia Ataxia is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in eye movements. Ataxia is a clinical manifestation indicating dysfunction of ...

s, the first identification of a mitochondrial DNA

in human disease (in

Kearns–Sayre syndrome Kearns–Sayre syndrome (KSS), oculocraniosomatic disorder or oculocranionsomatic neuromuscular disorder with ragged red fibers is a mitochondrial myopathy with a typical onset before 20 years of age. KSS is a more severe syndromic variant of chron ...

) * Identification of trinucleotide repeats in degenerative neurologic diseases (e.g.

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is a neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental abilities. A general lack of coordination and an uns ...

). She also worked extensively on the

population genetics Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as Adaptation (biology), adaptation, ...

of disorders with ethnic distribution. She has published over 200 articles, and edited 3 books. Together with Dr. Mary Davis, Anita Harding established one of the biggest service labs for molecular analysis of neurogenetic disorders in the UK.Cummins, Stephen (2018).
Remembering my first boss, the great Clinical Neurologist Anita Harding
. Medium. Retrieved 2020-10-27

References

External links

Anita Harding (1952-1995)

Remembering my first boss, the great Clinical Neurologist Anita Harding
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Anita 1952 births 1995 deaths People educated at King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham British neurologists Deaths from cancer in England Huntington's disease Place of death missing Academics of the University of London People from Birmingham, West Midlands Alumni of the UCL Medical School Deaths from colorectal cancer 20th-century English medical doctors 20th-century British women scientists