Anne Jacqueline Ridley (born 1963) is professor of Cell Biology and Head of School for Cellular and Molecular Medicine at 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 ...

. She was previously a professor at King's College London.

Education

Ridley was educated at

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 refound ...

and awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Natural Sciences (Biochemistry) from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

in 1985. After being encouraged by

Tim Hunt Sir Richard Timothy Hunt, (born 19 February 1943) is a British biochemist and molecular physiologist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Paul Nurse and Leland H. Hartwell for their discoveries of protein molec ...

to pursue a career in research she moved to 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 ...

where she was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1989 for research investigating the regulation of

oncogene An oncogene is a gene that has the potential to cause cancer. In tumor cells, these genes are often mutated, or expressed at high levels.

s in

Schwann cell Schwann cells or neurolemmocytes (named after German physiologist Theodor Schwann) are the principal glia of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Glial cells function to support neurons and in the PNS, also include satellite cells, olfactory ens ...

s supervised by Hartmut Land at the

Imperial Cancer Research Fund Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

Career and research

Ridley started her career as a

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

at the

Whitehead Institute Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research is a non-profit research institute located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States that is dedicated to improving human health through basic biomedical research. It was founded as a fiscally indepen ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

from 1989 to 1990 and the Institute of Cancer Research in London from 1990 to 1993. She was appointed research group leader at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at University College London (UCL) from 1993 to 2007 and Professor of Cell Biology at UCL from 2003 to 2007. Since 2007, she has been Professor at King's College London and her research has made contributions to our understanding of cancer, tumour progression and

inflammation Inflammation (from la, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, and is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molec ...

through her work on

cell migration Cell migration is a central process in the development and maintenance of multicellular organisms. Tissue formation during embryonic development, wound healing and immune responses all require the orchestrated movement of cells in particular dire ...

and the

Rho family of GTPases The Rho family of GTPases is a family of small (~21 kDa) signaling G proteins, and is a subfamily of the Ras superfamily. The members of the Rho GTPase family have been shown to regulate many aspects of intracellular actin dynamics, and are foun ...

. Work in her laboratory has influenced many areas of medical science, from

metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then ...

to cardiovascular disease and infection. Funding for her research has been provided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and Worldwide Cancer Research.Anne Ridley

Awards and honours

Ridley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2017. She was also awarded the Robert Hooke Medal by the British Society of Cell Biology (BSCB) in 2000,

EMBO Membership Membership of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is an award granted by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in recognition of "research excellence and the outstanding achievements made by a life scientist". , 88 EMB ...

in 2002 and the

Liliane Bettencourt Liliane Henriette Charlotte Bettencourt (; née Schueller; 21 October 1922 – 21 September 2017) was a French heiress, socialite and businesswoman. She was one of the principal shareholders of L'Oréal. At the time of her death, she was the ...

Prize for the Life Sciences in 2004. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) in 2009 and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2012. She became an honorary

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Microscopical Society The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. It was founded in 1839 as the Microscopical Society of London making it the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. In 1866, the society gained its ...

(FRMS) in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Anne Jacqueline Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Microscopical Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Female Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Living people 1965 births