Claire Eyers (née Haydon) is a British biological mass spectrometrist who is professor of biological

mass spectrometry Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is use ...

at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, where she heads up the Centre for Proteome Research. Her research publications list her either as Claire E Haydon (her maiden name) or Claire E Eyers (from 2005).

Early life and education

Eyers was born in London and educated at Putney High School. She was awarded a BSc Honours in Biochemistry with Industrial experience Rhône-Poulenc from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

in 1998 prior to undertaking postgraduate studies in the MRC PPU at the University of Dundee where she was awarded a PhD in 2002 for her work on stress-activated

protein kinases A protein kinase is a kinase which selectively modifies other proteins by covalently adding phosphates to them (phosphorylation) as opposed to kinases which modify lipids, carbohydrates, or other molecules. Phosphorylation usually results in a fun ...

with Sir Philip Cohen. Her interests in

protein phosphorylation Protein phosphorylation is a reversible post-translational modification of proteins in which an amino acid residue is phosphorylated by a protein kinase by the addition of a covalently bound phosphate group. Phosphorylation alters the structural ...

and biological

have subsequently led to a series of professional appointments, including (in 2017) an Invited Member of the Scientific Advisory Group of the

Human Proteome Organization The Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) is an international consortium of national proteomics research associations, government researchers, academic institutions, and industry partners. The organization was launched in February 2001, and it promotes ...

(HUPO), the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports (2017–), and as an Executive committee & Trustee of the British Mass Spectrometry Society (2015–), for whom she was also Treasurer between 2016 and 2018.

Career and research

Following her PhD in Dundee, Eyers joined the group of Professor Natalie Ahn in the USA, and was awarded an Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Award (Pacific/Mountain Affiliate) of the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...

(2004), held at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

. Subsequently, in 2005, she returned to the UK to take up a position with Professor

Simon Gaskell Simon James Gaskell (born 2 May 1950) is the previous president and principal of Queen Mary University of London, and current chair of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and chair of the board of governors of the University of Plym ...

as Deputy Head of the Michael Barber Centre for Mass Spectrometry at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

. Her work in Manchester, a national and international centre of excellence for

best known for the development of fast atom bombardment (FAB), involved the development, refinement and application of strategies for protein quantification by mass spectrometry, and gas-phase characterisation of modified peptides and glycans. During her time in Manchester, she also contributed to securing the first bronze (2011) and subsequently silver (2013)

Athena SWAN Athena SWAN (Scientific Women's Academic Network) is a quality charter mark framework and accreditation scheme established and managed by the UK Equality Challenge Unit (now part of Advance HE) in 2005 that recognises and celebrates good practi ...

(Scientific Women's Academic Network) award for the School of Chemistry. In 2007, Eyers was awarded a personal Royal Society

Dorothy Hodgkin Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin (née Crowfoot; 12 May 1910 – 29 July 1994) was a Nobel Prize-winning British chemist who advanced the technique of X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of biomolecules, which became essential fo ...

Fellowship to set up her own research

proteomics Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins. Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, with many functions such as the formation of structural fibers of muscle tissue, enzymatic digestion of food, or synthesis and replication of DNA. In ...

laboratory, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2010. Since 2014, she has been the Professor of Biological Mass Spectrometry in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at the University of Liverpool and is currently Director of the Centre for Proteome Research. She is currently Research and Impact Lead for the Institute of Integrative Biology at the University of Liverpool, a founder member of the Workload Model Working Group, which oversaw a charter Gold ranking

award for the IIB in 2017, a first for the

. Eyers sits on the Selection Committee for L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science, Professional Body Memberships and is a member of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

, the

American Society for Mass Spectrometry The American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) is a professional association based in the United States that supports the scientific field of mass spectrometry. As of 2018, the society had approximately 10,000 members primarily from the US, bu ...

, the British Society for Proteome Research (a member of the UK

Biosciences Federation The Biosciences Federation (BSF) was a United Kingdom body formed in 2002. Function The Federation aimed to unite the bioscience community over issues of common interest that related to both research and teaching. These organisations are a key ...

) , the British Mass Spectrometry Society and the UK

Biochemical Society The Biochemical Society is a learned society in the United Kingdom in the field of biochemistry, including all the cellular and molecular biosciences. Structure It currently has around 7000 members, two-thirds in the UK. It is affiliated with th ...

. Her expertise in protein phosphorylation and biological mass spectrometry have resulted in a number of professional appointments. She is currently Chair of BBSRC Committee D. Alongside Professors Sabine Flitsch and

Perdita Barran Perdita Elizabeth Barran is a Professor of Mass Spectrometry at the University of Manchester. She is Director of the Michael Barber Centre for Collaborative Mass Spectrometry. She develops and applies ion-mobility spectrometry–mass spectromet ...

, Eyers is also Co-founder and Scientific Director of Bio-Shape Ltd, a company specialising in the analysis of proteins, carbohydrates and their conjugates using mass spectrometry-based methods. Eyers' work in biological mass spectrometry focuses on the global and targeted analysis of

post-translational modification Post-translational modification (PTM) is the covalent and generally enzymatic modification of proteins following protein biosynthesis. This process occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum and the golgi apparatus. Proteins are synthesized by ribosome ...

proteins Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

. She has published over 70 research articles, has edited two books ('Quantitative Proteomics' published by RSC Press and 'Histidine Phosphorylation: Methods and Protocols published by Springer Press ) and she currently holds two patents. Her most cited publications focus on biochemical, structural, cellular and gas-phase studies of protein phosphorylation, protein kinase complexes and glycan conformation, and several highly-accessed reviews on the subject of ion mobility mass spectrometry for biological molecules. She is highly cited for her analysis of

by mass spectrometry, and in 2019 work in her lab led to the discovery that non-canonical

on a broad range of amino acids, including Arg, Asp, Cys, Glu, His and Lys is widespread in human cells. This work potentially opens up an entirely new field of 'non-canonical' protein phosphorylation analysis in prokaryotic and

eukaryotic Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacte ...

organisms, where protein phosphorylation represents a reversible switch that transmits intracellular signals in response to extracellular factors. In 2022, Eyers was appointed to th
Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
Health and Life Sciences sub-board which aims to support the growth of the Health and Life Sciences sectors in the local area as well as providing support and access to the extensive knowledge and expertise across the Liverpool City region.

Awards and honours

Eyers received the Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Award (Pacific/Mountain Affiliate) of the

(2004), when working in the laboratory of Professor Natalie Ahn, at the

. Eyers is the 2020 British Society for Proteome Research Named Lecturer. In her role as the BSPR Lecturer, Eyers will be presenting a series of lectures during 2020 and 2021 focused on phosphoproteomics and

post translational modification Post-translational modification (PTM) is the covalent and generally enzymatic modification of proteins following protein biosynthesis. This process occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum and the golgi apparatus. Proteins are synthesized by ribosome ...

analysis of

. * Winner of the RSC's 2022 Chemistry Biology Interface Division mid-career Award: Jeremy Knowles Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyers, Claire 21st-century British chemists Mass spectrometrists Academics of the University of Liverpool People educated at Putney High School Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of Dundee British women chemists 21st-century British women scientists Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Living people Year of birth missing (living people)