Lori Passmore facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lori Passmore
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Lori Anne Passmore
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| Nationality | Canadian/British |
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| Thesis | Structural and functional studies of the anaphase promoting complex (APC) (2003) |
| Doctoral advisor | David Barford |
| Other academic advisors | Venki Ramakrishnan Richard Henderson |
Dr. Lori Anne Passmore is a brilliant scientist from both Canada and Britain. She is an expert in using a special type of microscope called a cryo electron microscope (cryo-EM). This amazing tool helps her study the tiny building blocks of life.
Dr. Passmore is also a structural biologist. This means she figures out the exact shapes of very small things, like proteins. She works at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, UK. Her main work involves understanding how complex groups of proteins work together inside our bodies. She also helps create new tools for her powerful microscopes.
Her Journey in Science
Early Studies
Lori Passmore started her science journey in Canada. She earned her first degree from the University of British Columbia in 1999. After that, she moved to London, UK, to continue her studies.
In 2003, she earned her PhD from the University of London. For her PhD, she worked with Professor David Barford. She studied a special group of proteins called the anaphase-promoting complex (APC). She used cryo-EM to look closely at the APC's structure. This helped her understand how it works.
Research Career
After getting her PhD, Dr. Passmore became a postdoctoral researcher at the MRC-LMB. This is a place where top scientists do important research. She worked with famous scientists like Venki Ramakrishnan and Richard Henderson. They used cryo-EM to study the structure of something called the eukaryotic ribosome. The ribosome is like a tiny factory in our cells that makes proteins.
In 2009, Dr. Passmore became a group leader at the MRC-LMB. This means she leads her own team of scientists. Her team uses cryo-EM and other methods to understand how complex groups of proteins control gene expression. Gene expression is how our bodies use the information in our DNA to make proteins. She focuses on how these proteins work with RNA, which is like a messenger molecule in our cells.
Dr. Passmore's group has also invented new ways to prepare samples for cryo-EM. These new methods help scientists get clearer pictures of tiny molecules. She also works with another scientist, Ketan J. Patel, to study a condition called Fanconi anemia. This research helps us understand how our bodies repair damaged DNA.
Awards and Recognitions
Dr. Lori Passmore has received many important awards and honors for her scientific work:
- 2005: She received the Beit Memorial Fellowship for Medical Research.
- 2009: She became a Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge.
- 2010: She was awarded a starting grant from the European Research Council (ERC).
- 2015: She joined the EMBO Young Investigator Program.
- 2016: She received the Suffrage Science award. This award celebrates women in science.
- 2017: She received another grant from the ERC, called a consolidator grant.
- 2018: She became a Member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).
- 2023: She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
