Janet Thornton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dame Janet Thornton
|
|
|---|---|
Janet Thornton
|
|
| Born |
Janet Maureen McLoughlin
23 May 1949 |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Bury Grammar School |
| Alma mater |
|
| Known for |
|
| Spouse(s) |
Alan D. Thornton
(m. 1970) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields |
|
| Institutions |
|
| Thesis | The conformation of dinucleotides (1975) |
| Notable students |
|
Dame Janet Thornton is a very important scientist born on May 23, 1949. She is known for her work at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), which is part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Janet Thornton is a top researcher in a field called structural bioinformatics. This means she uses computers to figure out how proteins are shaped and what they do. She was the director of the EBI from 2001 to 2015. She also played a big part in creating ELIXIR, a project that helps share life science data across Europe.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Janet Thornton went to Bury Grammar School until 1967. She was even the head girl there! After school, she studied physics at the University of Nottingham.
Later, she earned a master's degree in biophysics from King's College London. She then completed her PhD in biophysics in 1973. This research was done at the National Institute for Medical Research in London.
Career and Research Focus
After finishing her PhD, Janet Thornton worked with David Chilton Phillips at the University of Oxford. She focused on molecular biophysics, which looks at the physics of tiny molecules in living things.
In 1978, she went back to the National Institute for Medical Research. After that, she became a Fellow at Birkbeck College. In 1990, she became a Professor at University College London. There, she directed a unit that studied the structure and modeling of biomolecules.
Leading the European Bioinformatics Institute
From 2001 to 2015, Janet Thornton was the Director of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI). The EBI is located on the Wellcome Genome Campus near Cambridge, UK. It's a major center for collecting and sharing biological data.
She helped organize big science conferences. For example, she was an organizer for the Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) conference in 2004.
Understanding Proteins with Computers
Janet Thornton's work combines many different science areas. These include structural biology, bioinformatics, and biological chemistry. She was one of the first to check the quality of protein structures. She helped create a software called ProCheck, which is used a lot today.
She also worked with Christine Orengo to create the CATH system. This system helps classify different protein structures. Her team also made a tool called EC-BLAST. This tool compares enzymes based on the chemical reactions they cause.
Building Data Networks
From 2008 to 2012, Janet Thornton led the first steps of ELIXIR. This is a big European project to create an infrastructure for life sciences data. It helps scientists share and use information more easily. She is still involved with ELIXIR as a scientific delegate for EMBL.
Her research has received funding from important groups. These include the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.
Mentoring Future Scientists
Janet Thornton has guided many students and researchers. Some of her notable students include Sarah Teichmann and David Jones. They have also become successful scientists.
Awards and Recognition
Janet Thornton has received many important awards and honors for her work.
- She became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1999. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
- In 2000, she became a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).
- She was made a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2003.
- In 2014, she became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).
- She was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in 2017.
Her work has greatly helped us understand protein structures. She developed ways to analyze and predict how proteins fold. Her tools, like PROCHECK, are used worldwide to check the quality of protein structures found in experiments.
Janet Thornton was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000. She was then made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2012. These honors were for her great contributions to bioinformatics. In 2010, The Times newspaper named her one of the top 100 British scientists. She also received the Suffrage Science award in 2011.
