Ron Laskey

CBE FRS FMedSci
Prof Laskey (right) presented with the 2014 Cancer Research UK Lifetime Achievement Prize by Chief Scientist Nic Jones[5]
Born
Ronald Alfred Laskey

(1945-01-26) 26 January 1945 (age 79)[6]
EducationRoyal Grammar School, High Wycombe
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (DPhil)
Spouse
Margaret Ann Page
​
(m. 1971)​
[6]
Awards
Scientific career
ThesisApplication of cell cultures to the study of differentiation in Xenopus laevis : effects of the environment on the proliferation and behaviour of differentiating amphibian cells (1970)
Doctoral studentsRichard Harland[3][4]
Websitewww.zoo.cam.ac.uk/directory/professor-ron-laskey

Ronald Alfred Laskey CBE FRS FMedSci FLSW (born 26 January 1945) is a British cell biologist and cancer researcher.

Career and research

Laskey was the Charles Darwin Professor of Embryology at the University of Cambridge. In 1991, he co-founded the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research Campaign Institute (now known as the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute), along with five other senior scientists including Professor Sir John Gurdon.[7] In 2001, he founded the Medical Research Council Cancer Cell Unit in 2001,[8] and was Director of the Unit until 2010. Laskey is also a Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge.[9]

Awards and honours

Laskey was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours. Other significant honours include the Royal Society Royal Medal, for his "pivotal contributions to our understanding of the control of DNA replication and nuclear protein transport, which has led to a novel screening method for cancer diagnosis",[10] and the Cancer Research UK Lifetime Achievement Prize.[5]

Personal life

Laskey married Margaret Ann Page in 1971.[6] Laskey is an author, composer and singer of (mostly) science-based humorous songs, in the tradition of Tom Lehrer. Various combinations of these songs were published by the Cold Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press in three records: "Songs for Cynical Scientists" (audio cassette), More Songs for Cynical Scientists and Selected Songs for Cynical Scientists (CDs). Only the last-mentioned record is still available.[18]

References

  1. ^ "Professor Ronald A. LASKEY | Jeantet". 1 October 2017.
  2. ^ Laskey, R. A. (1981). "Molecular mechanisms of chromatin assembly". Biochemical Society Transactions. 9 (4): 263–70. doi:10.1042/bst0090263. PMID 6266896.
  3. ^ Harland, Richard M. (1980). Control of chromosomal replication. jisc.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC 556502145. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.256803.
  4. ^ "Richard Harland". www.nasonline.org.
  5. ^ a b "Prof Laskey receives Lifetime Achievement Prize - ecancer". ecancer.org.
  6. ^ a b c Anon (2015). "Laskey, Prof. Ronald Alfred". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U23843. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ^ Regnier, Michael (29 June 2012). "Simply science: the Gurdon at 21".
  8. ^ "Cancer unit at Cambridge opens in 2001". Times Higher Education Supplement. 30 October 1998. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  9. ^ "Master & fellows | www.darwin.cam.ac.uk". www.darwin.cam.ac.uk.
  10. ^ "Royal Medals | Royal Society". royalsociety.org.
  11. ^ "Fellows | Royal Society". royalsociety.org.
  12. ^ "Prize winners | Jeantet". 11 December 2017.
  13. ^ Medical Research Council: News & Publications: Royal Society awards recognise MRC scientists (accessed 13 January 2013)
  14. ^ RAE 2001: Clinical Laboratory Sciences: University of Cambridge: RA6a Additional observations, Evidence of esteem (accessed 13 January 2013)
  15. ^ Laskey R (June 2005). "The Croonian Lecture 2001: Hunting the antisocial cancer cell: MCM proteins and their exploitation". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 360 (1458): 1119–32. doi:10.1098/rstb.2005.1656. PMC 1569504. PMID 16147513.
  16. ^ "New Year Honours list 2011".
  17. ^ Wales, The Learned Society of. "Ron Laskey". The Learned Society of Wales. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Release "Selected Songs for Cynical Scientists" by Ron Laskey - MusicBrainz". musicbrainz.org.
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