Susan Greenfield, Baroness Greenfield Explained

Honorific Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Baroness Greenfield
Birth Name:Susan Adele Greenfield
Birth Date:1 October 1950
Birth Place:Chiswick, London, England[1]
Alma Mater:St Hilda's College, Oxford
Thesis Title:Origins of acetylcholinesterase in cerebrospinal fluid
Thesis Url:http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?doc=oxfaleph016961302
Thesis Year:1977
Doctoral Advisor:Anthony David Smith
Awards:CBE, Knight of the Legion of Honour

Susan Adele Greenfield, Baroness Greenfield, [2] (born 1 October 1950) is an English scientist, writer, broadcaster and member of the House of Lords (since 2001). Her research has focused on the treatment of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. She is also interested in the neuroscience of consciousness[3] and the impact of technology on the brain.[4]

Greenfield is a senior research fellow at Lincoln College, Oxford;[5] she was a professor of Synaptic Pharmacology.

Greenfield was chancellor of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh between 2005 and 2013.[6] From 1998 to 2010, she was director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain.[7] In September 2013, she co-founded the biotech company Neuro-bio Ltd, where she is chief executive officer.

Education

Greenfield's mother, Doris (née Thorp), was a dancer and a Christian, and her father, Reginald Myer Greenfield, was an electrician who was the son of a Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrant from Austria; her grandmothers never spoke and she said of them, "the prejudice was equally vociferous on both sides".[8] [9]

She attended the Godolphin and Latymer School, where she took A levels in Latin, Greek and ancient history, and maths. The first member of her immediate family to go to university, she was initially admitted to St Hilda's College to read Philosophy and Psychology, but changed course and graduated with a first-class degree in experimental psychology.[9] [10] As a Senior Scholar at St Hugh's College, Oxford,[11] she completed her DPhil degree in 1977 under the supervision of Anthony David Smith on the Origins of acetylcholinesterase in cerebrospinal fluid.[12]

She then held a junior research fellowship at Green College, Oxford between 1981 and 1984.[13]

Career

Greenfield's research is focused on brain physiology, particularly on the brain mechanisms of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. She is also known for her role in popularising science. Greenfield has written several books about the brain, regularly gives public lectures, and appears on radio and television.

Since 1976, Greenfield has published approximately 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including studies on brain mechanisms involved in addiction and reward,[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] relating to dopamine systems and other neurochemicals.[19] [20] She investigated the brain mechanisms underlying attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)[21] as well as the impact of environmental enrichment.[23]

In 1994, she was the first woman to give the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, then sponsored by the BBC. Her lectures were titled "Journey to the centre of the brain".[24] She was appointed Director of the Royal Institution in 1998.[25] The post was abolished in 2010.[26] The Royal Institution had found itself in a financial crisis following a £22m development programme led by Greenfield and the Board. The project ended £3 million in debt.[27] [28] Greenfield subsequently announced that she would be taking her employers to an employment tribunal and her claim would include discrimination.[29] The case was settled out of court.[30]

Greenfield's two main positions at Oxford were Tutorial Fellow in Medicine at Lincoln College Oxford,[5] and Professor of Synaptic Pharmacology. Between 1995 and 1999, she gave public lectures as Gresham Professor of Physic in London. Greenfield was Adelaide's Thinker in Residence for 2004 and 2005.[31]

As a result of her recommendations, South Australian Premier Mike Rann made a major funding commitment, backed by the State and Federal Governments and the private sector, to establish the Royal Institution of Australia and the Australian Science Media Centre in Adelaide.[32]

She has explored the relevance of neuroscience knowledge to education[33] and has used the phrase "mind change",[34] an umbrella term comparable to "climate change", encompassing diverse issues involved in the impact of the 21st-century environment on the brain.[35]

In 2013 she co-founded the biotech company Neuro-Bio Ltd which develops diagnostic tests and therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease. The company has found that the C terminus of acetylcholinesterase can be cleaved and that the resulting peptide can kill neurons; the company has also found that a cyclic peptide analogue could prevent that neuronal death.[36] The company raised around $4 million in 2017.[37]

Politics

Greenfield sits in the Parliament of the United Kingdom in the House of Lords as a crossbencher, having no formal political affiliation.[38] Records of Greenfield's activity in the House of Lords indicate abstention on a range of issues.[39] She has spoken on a variety of topics,[40] including education, drugs, and economic empowerment for women.[41]

Books

In 2013, Greenfield published a dystopian science-fiction novel, 2121: A Tale from the Next Century, telling the story of videogame-playing hedonists and their conflict with "Neo-Puritans".[42]

In 2014, Greenfield published a popular science book called Mind Change: How Digital Technologies are Leaving their Mark on our Brains, describing her ideas about the impact of digital technology.[43]

Impact of digital technology controversy

Greenfield has expressed concerns that internet usage may modify the brain structures of youngsters.[44] [45]

She has had controversy surrounding her opinions on the relationship between technology use and Autism Spectrum Disorder. She originally linked the increase in Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis to increased screen-time in a 2011 New Scientist article,.[46] She defended this claim in 2014, in an interview with Stephen Sackur, on the BBC show HARDTalk, in which she claims to have collated 500 articles "in support of the possible problematic effects" of technology-use.[47]

She noted that Public Health England had related social networking and multiplayer online games to "lower levels of wellbeing", and believed that evidence pointed to a "dose response" relationship, "where each additional hour of viewing increases the likelihood of experiencing socio-emotional problems".[48] She believed this raised questions about where to draw the boundaries between beneficial and harmful use of such technology, saying that "it would be surprising if many hours per day of screen activity did not influence this neuroplasticity".[49]

Honours

As of 2016, Greenfield has 32 honorary degrees;[50] has received awards including the Royal Society's Michael Faraday Prize. She has been elected to an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians[51] and the London Science Museum.[52]

In 2006 she was made an Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association[53] and was the Honorary Australian of the Year.

In January 2000, Greenfield received a CBE for her contribution to the public understanding of science.[2] Later that year, she was named Woman of the Year[54] by The Observer. In 2001, she became a Life Peer under the House of Lords Appointments Commission system,[55] as Baroness Greenfield, of Ot Moor, Oxfordshire.[2] Like the other people's peers she was self-nominated.[55]

In 2003, she was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour by the French Government.[51] In 2010 she was awarded the Australian Society for Medical Research Medal.[56] She received the British Inspiration award for Science and Technology in 2010.[57]

Patronage

She is a patron of Alzheimer's Research UK[58] and of Dignity in Dying.[59] She is a founder and trustee of the charity Science for Humanity, a network of scientists, researchers and technologists that collaborates with not-for-profit organisations to create practical solutions to the everyday problems of developing communities.[60]

Personal life

Greenfield was married to the University of Oxford professor Peter Atkins from 1991 until their divorce in 2005.[61]

Bibliography

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bell . Matthew . Susan Greenfield: After the science, the fiction . The Independent . 22 June 2022 . en . 29 June 2013.
  2. Web site: Minutes and Order Paper – Minutes of Proceedings. 27 October 2007. UK Parliament House of Lords. 2001. House of Lords.
  3. http://www.susangreenfield.com/about-susan/books#The Private Life of the Brain (2000)
  4. Web site: Screen Technologies. susangreenfield.com. 17 September 2015.
  5. http://www.pharm.ox.ac.uk/research/associate/susan-greenfield University of Oxford> Department of Pharmacology> Baroness Susan Greenfield
  6. News: Greenfield to be made Heriot-Watt chancellor. The Guardian. 5 April 2016. Liz. Ford. 31 January 2006 .
  7. News: Baroness Greenfield loses her job in Royal Institution shake-up. 9 January 2010. The Times. The Times. London, UK. 9 January 2010.
  8. News: Franks. Lynne. Interview: Susan Greenfield. The Jewish Chronicle. 24 November 2011.
  9. News: Radford. Tim. The Guardian profile: Susan Greenfield. The Guardian. 30 April 2004. 26 August 2011. London, UK.
  10. News: Bell. Matthew. Susan Greenfield: After the science, the fiction. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/susan-greenfield-after-the-science-the-fiction-8679982.html . 25 May 2022 . subscription . live. The Independent on Sunday. 30 June 2013.
  11. Web site: Baroness Greenfield. 27 October 2007. British Council on Science. 2007. British Council on Science. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070828023257/http://www.britishcouncil.org/science-testimonials-baroness-greenfield.htm. 28 August 2007. dmy-all.
  12. DPhil. Susan. Greenfield. Origins of acetylcholinesterase in cerebrospinal fluid. University of Oxford. 1977.
  13. News: The Guardian profile: Susan Greenfield. The Guardian. 17 September 2015. Tim. Radford. 30 April 2004 .
  14. 12097522. 6758186. 2002. Cragg. S.J.. Functional domains in dorsal striatum of the nonhuman primate are defined by the dynamic behavior of dopamine. The Journal of Neuroscience. 22. 13. 5705–12. Hille. C. J.. Greenfield. S.A.. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.22-13-05705.2002.
  15. 11050144. 6772736. 2000. Cragg. S.J.. Dopamine release and uptake dynamics within nonhuman primate striatum in vitro. The Journal of Neuroscience. 20. 21. 8209–17. Hille. C.J.. Greenfield. S.A.. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.20-21-08209.2000.
  16. 10.1006/exnr.2000.7420. 10877925. Real-Time Dynamics of Dopamine Released from Neuronal Transplants in Experimental Parkinson's Disease. Experimental Neurology. 164. 1. 145–53. 2000. Cragg. S.J.. Clarke. D.J.. Greenfield. S.A.. 20654732.
  17. 9539208. 1998. Cragg. S.J.. Dopamine is released spontaneously from developing midbrain neurons in organotypic culture. Neuroscience. 84. 2. 325–30. Holmes. C.. Hawkey. C.R.. Greenfield. S.A.. 10.1016/s0306-4522(97)00657-x. 25909469.
  18. 9157319. 1996. Dickie. B.G.. Neurotoxic and neurotrophic effects of chronic N-methyl-D-aspartate exposure upon mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons in organotypic culture. Neuroscience. 72. 3. 731–41. Holmes. C.. Greenfield. S.A.. 10.1016/0306-4522(95)00611-7. 23225163.
  19. 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.10.005. 19819310. 5-HT1B receptor regulation of serotonin (5-HT) release by endogenous 5-HT in the substantia nigra. Neuroscience. 165. 1. 212–20. 2010. Threlfell. S.. Greenfield. S.A.. Cragg. S.J.. 25730390.
  20. 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2008.05646.x. 18761715. Constitutive histamine H2receptor activity regulates serotonin release in the substantia nigra. Journal of Neurochemistry. 107. 3. 745–55. 2008. Threlfell. S.. Exley. R.. Cragg. S.J.. Greenfield. S.A.. 39736774.
  21. 10.1101/Lm.1092608. Methylphenidate amplifies long-term plasticity in the hippocampus via noradrenergic mechanisms. Learning & Memory. 15. 8. 580–86. 2008. Dommett. E.J.. Henderson. E.L.. Westwell. M.S.. Greenfield. S.A.. 18685149. free.
  22. [21]
  23. 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.07.029. 20654700. Environmental enrichment differentially modifies specific components of sensory-evoked activity in rat barrel cortex as revealed by simultaneous electrophysiological recordings and optical imaging in vivo. Neuroscience. 170. 2. 662–69. 2010. Devonshire . I.M.. Dommett. E.J.. Grandy. T. H.. Halliday. A.C.. Greenfield. S.A.. 23618724.
  24. Web site: List of Lecturers. 9 January 2010. RI. RI. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100617044333/http://www.rigb.org/assets/uploads/docs/ListofLecturers.pdf. 17 June 2010. dmy-all.
  25. http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayContent&id=00000001885 Profile
  26. News: Baroness Greenfield's redundancy 'only way to get rid of her'. https://web.archive.org/web/20100113194432/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6968961/Baroness-Greenfields-redundancy-only-way-to-get-rid-of-her.html. dead. 13 January 2010. London, UK. The Daily Telegraph. Caroline. Gammell. Richard. Alleyne. 12 January 2010.
  27. News: Baroness Greenfield's redundancy 'only way to get rid of her'. https://web.archive.org/web/20100113194432/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6968961/Baroness-Greenfields-redundancy-only-way-to-get-rid-of-her.html. dead. 13 January 2010. Telegraph. 28 April 2014.
  28. News: Robin McKie and Rajeev Syal. Top scientist Susan Greenfield told to quit her job – and her flat. The Observer . 10 January 2010 . Theguardian.com. 28 April 2014.
  29. News: Royal Institution former chief suing for discrimination. 9 January 2010. BBC. BBC. 9 January 2010.
  30. Web site: Baroness Greenfield drops legal action against the Royal Institution. Civilsociety.co.uk. 28 April 2014.
  31. Web site: Adelaide Thinkers in Residence – Susan Greenfield. Govt. of South Australia. 3 March 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110222003150/http://thinkers.sa.gov.au/thinkers/greenfield/. 22 February 2011. dmy-all.
  32. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/m-to-form-royal-institution-of-australia/story-e6frea83-1225712522600 $15m to form Royal Institution of Australia
  33. 10.1177/1073858409356111. 20484219. From Scientific Theory to Classroom Practice. The Neuroscientist. 17. 4. 382–88. 2010. Dommett. E.J.. Devonshire. I.M.. Plateau. C.R.. Westwell. M.S.. Greenfield. S. A.. 38863068.
  34. News: Susan Greenfield: "Mind change is 'an issue that's as important and as unprecedented as climate change". Guardian. 17 June 2013. London. Mustafa. Khalili. Elliot. Smith. Philip. Oltermann. 15 August 2011.
  35. Web site: Greenfield. Susan. You And Me: The Neuroscience of Identity . Notting Hill Editions. 17 June 2013.
  36. News: Koch. Selina. Zipkin. Mark. Why Neuro-Bio thinks it's time to revisit the role of AChE in AD. BioCentury. 30 June 2016.
  37. News: Ross. John. Commercialising research: the deal as learning curve. The Australian. 17 March 2017.
  38. Web site: Baroness Greenfield. UK Parliament website . 19 July 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100612081431/http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/susan-greenfield/27126. 12 June 2010. dmy-all.
  39. Web site: Baroness Greenfield profile at. TheyWorkForYou. mySociety. 19 July 2010.
  40. Web site: Baroness Susan Greenfield; House of Lords debates. www.susangreenfield.com. 18 September 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20151215082218/http://www.susangreenfield.com/public-speaking/house-of-lords-debates/. 15 December 2015. dmy-all.
  41. Web site: Lords Hansard text for 05 Mar 2015 (pt 0001). www.publications.parliament.uk. 17 September 2015.
  42. News: Susan Greenfield: Tale of a terrible reckoning. Reg. Little. Oxford Times. 9 August 2013.
  43. News: Robbins. Martin. Mind Change: Susan Greenfield has a Big Idea, but What is it?. 6 October 2017. The Guardian.
  44. Social websites: bad for kids' brains?. BBC Newsnight. Newsnight. 25 February 2009. 6 January 2010.
  45. News: Age Concern backs social networks but Ben Goldacre's blood pressure still rising. Arthur. Charles. 25 February 2009. guardian.co.uk. 14 March 2009. London, UK.
  46. Web site: Susan Greenfield: Living online is changing our brains .
  47. Web site: BBC News Channel – HARDtalk, Professor Susan Greenfield – Neuroscientist .
  48. Web site: Main heading. data.parliament.uk. 18 September 2015.
  49. The debate over digital technology and young people. The BMJ. 12 August 2015. 1756-1833. 26268481. h3064. 351. 10.1136/bmj.h3064. Vaughan. Bell. Dorothy V.M.. Bishop. Andrew K.. Przybylski. 20209855.
  50. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/colleagues-slam-rock-star-scientist-over-autism-internet-campaign/story-e6frg8y6-1227481030422 Profile
  51. Web site: Bio on the Royal Institution website. Rigb.org. 2 December 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120211203226/http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayContent&id=00000001145. 11 February 2012. dmy-all.
  52. Web site: Fellows – About us. Science Museum. 2 September 2011. 8 July 2013.
  53. Web site: Current Honorary Fellows. British Science Association. 17 June 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140725022608/http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/about-british-science-association/our-organisation/honorary-fellows/current-honorary-fellows. 25 July 2014. dmy-all.
  54. News: Your Woman of the Year. Anthony. Andrew. 2000-12-31. The Observer. 2019-12-07. en-GB. 0029-7712.
  55. News: The people's peers: seven knights, a lord's wife and three professors. . 27 April 2001 . 13 August 2015 . Perkins . Anne .
  56. Web site: MRW. asmr.org.au. Australian Society for Medical Research. 17 June 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130509105214/http://www.asmr.org.au/MRW.html. 9 May 2013. dmy-all.
  57. Web site: 2010 Awards. British Inspiration Awards. 17 June 2013.
  58. Web site: Patrons. Alzheimer's Research UK. 12 August 2014.
  59. Web site: Brian Pretty and Zoe Wanamaker among new patrons for Dignity in Dying (Jan 23) – Dignity in Dying. https://web.archive.org/web/20160424131821/http://www.dignityindying.org.uk/press-release/brian-pretty-and-zoe-wanamaker-among-new-patrons-for-dignity-in-dying-jan-23/. dead. 24 April 2016. 17 September 2015.
  60. Web site: Global Risk Register – About Science for Humanity. globalriskregister.org. 17 September 2015.
  61. News: Cole. Moreton. Susan Greenfield: The girl with all the brains. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/susan-greenfield-the-girl-with-all-the-brains-825916.html . 25 May 2022 . subscription . live. The Independent on Sunday. 11 May 2008. London, UK. 16 April 2016.

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