Winifred May Watkins,
FRS (6 August 1924 – 3 October 2003) was a British
biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
and academic. She worked at the
Imperial College School of Medicine
Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) is the undergraduate medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals. It is part of the college's Faculty of Medicine and was formed by the merger of several hist ...
.
Early life
Watkins was born on 6 August 1924 in
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character, i ...
, London, England.
[ Originally from an article in ''Vox Sanguinis'', Volume 88, Issue 2, pages 75–76, February 2005, by C. Richmond.] Her father worked as an engraver but he was an artist in his spare time. She took to science after she won a scholarship to
The Godolphin and Latymer School for Girls in
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
...
. In 1939 the whole school was evacuated from London with no forward planning for where the school would stay. Watkins returned to London after a year.
[
She had intended to study medicine but the war meant that she had to work whilst studying at the Chelsea Polytechnic. She started a lifelong collaboration with Walter Morgan] and she obtained special permission to be credited on a joint paper as she lacked the qualifications normally required. She eventually obtained a degree in Physics and Chemistry in 1947 from London University
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- ...
.[ After studying at ]St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust.
History
Early history
Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...
Medical
School she obtained a doctorate in biochemistry from 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 ...
in 1950.
Academic career
She was working on the science of blood and blood groups and she joined a specialist group at the Lister Institute
The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute (the British Institute of Preventive Medicine) in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, us ...
.[ She was made a ]Reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
in biochemistry at 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 ...
in 1965, and appointed Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
in 1968.
Following her publication of an important paper that explained the biosynthesis of blood groups she was funded to work at the University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
.
Honours
Awards followed for her contribution to blood transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mo ...
and she was elected Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
(FRS) in 1969 and of the University of London in 1970.[
She was awarded 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 ...
by the Royal Society in 1988. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...
:''"In recognition of her fundamental contributions towards an understanding of the biochemical genetics of carbohydrate antigens on cell surfaces and in secreted glycoproteins."''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Winifred
1924 births
2003 deaths
Alumni of the University of London
Royal Medal winners
British biochemists
Academics of Imperial College London
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Female Fellows of the Royal Society
Place of death missing
British women chemists
People from Shepherd's Bush
People educated at Godolphin and Latymer School
Fellows of the Royal Society
20th-century British women scientists