Helen M. Berman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Helen Berman
|
|
|---|---|
Helen Berman in 2008.
|
|
| Born |
Helen Miriam Berman
1943 (age 81–82) Chicago, Illinois
|
| Alma mater | |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | Jason Asher Young |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields |
|
| Institutions | Rutgers University |
| Thesis | The Crystal Structures of Alpha Prime and Beta-D-Mannitol, Galacticol, Methyl Aalpha-D-Glucopyranoside and Hydroxyurea (1967) |
| Doctoral advisor | George A. Jeffrey |
| Other academic advisors | Barbara Low, Jenny Glusker |
Helen Miriam Berman is a very important scientist who studies chemistry and biology. She is a professor at Rutgers University. She used to lead a big science project called the RCSB Protein Data Bank. This project helps scientists around the world share information about tiny building blocks of life.
Helen Berman is a structural biologist. This means she looks closely at the shapes of tiny molecules, like proteins and DNA. She studies how these molecules work together. She also started the Nucleic Acid Database. This is another important collection of information for scientists.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Helen Berman was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1943. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Her father was a doctor, and her mother helped run his office. Helen was inspired by her father and wanted to be a scientist or a doctor from a young age. Her mother also taught her the importance of helping the community.
When Helen was in high school, she worked in a lab at Barnard College. This experience made her want to study there for college. At Barnard, she worked in another lab where she learned about crystallography. This is a way to study the structure of crystals. She loved it and it became her lifelong passion. She earned her chemistry degree from Barnard in 1964.
After college, Helen went to the University of Pittsburgh for graduate school. She chose this university because it was one of the few places that taught crystallography. She studied how carbohydrates are structured. In 1967, she earned her Ph.D. She stayed at the University of Pittsburgh for two more years to continue her research.
Building a Scientific Career
In 1969, Helen Berman moved to the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. She worked in a lab there and then started her own research program in 1973. At Fox Chase, she became very interested in the structures of nucleic acids, like DNA. She also became interested in bioinformatics. This field uses computers to organize and understand biological data. She knew that organizing data well would help many scientists.
In 1971, Helen attended a meeting where scientists decided to create a database for protein structures. This led to the creation of the Protein Data Bank (PDB). It was a place to store all the information about the shapes of proteins.
In 1989, Helen moved to Rutgers University. In 1992, she helped start the Nucleic Acid Database (NDB). This database collects and shares information about nucleic acid structures. At Rutgers, she kept studying nucleic acids and how they interact with proteins. She also researched the structure of collagen. Collagen is an important protein found in our bodies.
Leading Global Science Projects
In 1998, Helen Berman helped move the Protein Data Bank (PDB) to Rutgers. She and her team redesigned the database. They added new tools for users and made it easier to search. This made the PDB even more useful for scientists.
Since 2003, the PDB has been managed by the worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB). Helen Berman helped create this partnership. It includes organizations from the United States, Europe, and Japan. These groups work together to collect and share protein data. As of 2018, the PDB held over 142,000 structures of large molecules. The NDB held over 9,600 nucleic acid structures.
Helen Berman has also been very active in the scientific community. She was the president of the American Crystallographic Association in 1988. She has advised important science organizations. She has also published many scientific papers.
Helen Berman also created a documentary series called "Target Zero." This series talks about HIV treatment and prevention. It shares real patient stories and interviews with doctors. It also uses cool animations to show how treatments work at a tiny level. The series shows the importance of caring for patients and understanding the science behind medicine.
Awards and Recognition
Helen Berman has received many awards for her important work. Some of them include:
- New Jersey Woman of Achievement (1993)
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1996)
- Outstanding Woman Scientist Award (1999)
- Distinguished Service Award, Biophysical Society (2000)
- M.J. Buerger Award, American Crystallographic Association (2006)
- Carl Brändén Award from the Protein Society (2012)
- DeLano Award for Computational Biosciences (2013)
- Benjamin Franklin Award for Open Access in the Life Sciences (2014)
Personal Life
Helen Berman has been married twice. She has a son named Jason Asher Young, who was born in 1979 and is a physicist.
At one point in her life, Helen faced a health challenge. This experience made her even more focused on her work and helping others. She became interested in supporting other women who faced similar health issues.
See also
In Spanish: Helen M. Berman para niños
