Deborah Charlesworth Explained

Deborah Charlesworth
Birth Date:13 March 1943
Citizenship:British
Field:Evolutionary biology
Children:1 daughter
Alma Mater:University of Cambridge
Thesis Title:Biometrical studies of some biochemical characters in the mouse
Thesis Url:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos.597496
Thesis Year:1969
Doctoral Students:Philip Awadalla
Notable Students:Gilean McVean (postdoc)

Deborah Charlesworth (née Maltby; born 1943) is a population geneticist from the UK, notable for her important discoveries in population genetics and evolutionary biology.[1] [2] Her most notable research is in understanding the evolution of recombination, sex chromosomes and mating system for plants.

Early life and education

Charlesworth grew up in a London suburb, and from a young age was very interested in the natural world around her.

Although Charlesworth initially studied biochemistry, genetic variation played a significant role from the beginning her research.[3] Charlesworth obtained her doctorate at Cambridge University in 1968 with her thesis focusing on the quantitative genetics of mice, specifically the extent of genetic variation in the blood glucose levels across natural strains.

Research career

Charlesworth continued her research at Cambridge and Chicago as a research fellow in human genetics examining amino acid variations in hemoglobins in human populations. Charlesworth's interest in evolutionary biology continued through her collaboration with Brian Charlesworth, specifically their works on mimicry systems and recombination rates causing her to shift her focus to evolution. She continued her post-doctoral research at, University of Chicago, University of Liverpool and University of Sussex as Brian Charlesworth took positions at each, causing her to do research without financial support. She was mentored at Cambridge by Hermann Lehmann.[4]

From 1988 - 1997, at the age of 45, Charlesworth obtained her first faculty position, teaching at University of Chicago. By this time, Charlesworth had already published ~50 articles. Charlesworth was then appointed to a Professorial Research Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh.[5]

She is best known for her work on the evolution of genetic self-incompatibility in plants and is recognised as a leader in that field. According to the Web of Science she has published over 300 articles in peer-reviewed journals. These articles have been cited over 10,000 times and she has an h-index of 53.[6] She has been married since 1967 to the British evolutionary biologist Brian Charlesworth, who she ended up working in population genetics with.

Awards and honors

Charlesworth was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2001[7] and a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2005.[8] In 2011, Charlesworth was awarded the Molecular Ecology Prize.[9] Charlesworth was awarded the Genetics Society Medal 2019.[10] She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society for the Study of Evolution in January 2020.[11] In 2022, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.[12]

Selected publications

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Mable. Barbara. Hill. Bill. February 2008. editorial. Genetics Research. en. 90. 1. 1. 10.1017/S0016672307009093. 1469-5073. free.
  2. Web site: Deborah Charlesworth Royal Society. 2020-11-19. royalsociety.org. en-gb.
  3. 2012. Recipient of the 2011 Molecular Ecology Prize: Deborah Charlesworth. Molecular Ecology. en. 21. 1. 23–25. 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05385.x. 22181850. 1365-294X. Wright. S.. 28511114. free.
  4. Web site: Evolution Tree - Deborah Charlesworth. 2020-11-23. academictree.org.
  5. Web site: Biological Sciences. The University of Edinburgh.
  6. Web site: Web of Science . 2008 . 24 August 2008 .
  7. Mable. Barbara. Hill Bill. February 2008. Deborah Charlesworth. Genet. Res.. 90. 1. 1. 10.1017/S0016672307009093. 18509956. free.
  8. Web site: EC/1991/08: Charlesworth, Deborah. The Royal Society.
  9. 2012. Recipient of the 2011 Molecular Ecology Prize: Deborah Charlesworth. Molecular Ecology. en. 21. 1. 23–25. 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05385.x. 22181850. 1365-294X. Wright. S.. 28511114. free.
  10. Web site: Genetics Society.
  11. Web site: Awards & Grants: 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient . Society for the Study of Evolution . 29 January 2020.
  12. Web site: 2022 NAS Election. en-gb. 18 June 2022.
  13. Web site: People. ed.ac.uk. 12 January 2017. 26 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180326141736/https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/people/profile/dcharles. dead.

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