Catherine Elizabeth "Cait" MacPhee is Professor of Biological Physics at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. After studying for her BSc in biochemistry and her PhD in medicine at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

she moved to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

for postdoctoral research, where she was a research fellow at St Hilda's College, and subsequently held a

Royal Society 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 ...

Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship. From 2001-2005 she was a Royal Society University Fellow in the

Cavendish Laboratory The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...

of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and held a research fellowship at

Girton College Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...

and then a fellowship at King's College. In 2006 she moved to the University of Edinburgh, where she became Professor of Biological Physics in 2011. MacPhee's research into the BslA protein from ''

Bacillus subtilis ''Bacillus subtilis'', known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium, found in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, humans and marine sponges. As a member of the genus ''Bacillu ...

'', together with

Nicola Stanley-Wall Nicola Stanley-Wall FRSE FRSB is a Professor of Microbiology in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee who works on the molecular mechanism of biofilm formation. Her laboratory investigates how bacteria come together to form s ...

from the

School of Life Sciences A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compul ...

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

, has been widely reported because of potential applications in the production of

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

. She was appointed CBE in the

2016 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2016 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

"for services to women in physics", and was subsequently elected as a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. In 2016 she was selected as a finalist for the

BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds scientific rese ...

Innovator of the Year competition. In 2018 she was awarded the

Gabor Medal The Gabor Medal is one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "acknowledged distinction of interdisciplinary work between the life sciences with other disciplines". The medal was created in 1989 to honor the memory of physicist Denni ...

of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacPhee, Cait Living people British physicists Place of birth missing (living people) University of Melbourne alumni Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of St Hilda's College, Oxford Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Institute of Physics Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Year of birth missing (living people)