Susan Lea (scientist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susan Lea
FRS FMedSci
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| Born |
Susan Mary Lea
1969 (age 55–56) |
| Education | Oxford High School, England |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford (MA, DPhil) |
| Awards | EMBO Member (2015) Fellow of the Royal Society, F.R.S. (2022) Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, F.Med.Sci (2017) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Structural biology |
| Institutions | National Cancer Institute National Institutes of Health University of Oxford |
| Thesis | Structural studies on foot-and-mouth disease virus (1993) |
| Doctoral advisors | David Stuart |
Susan Mary Lea, born in 1969, is a British biologist. She is the chief of the Center for Structural Biology at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Lea studies how living things interact with germs and how tiny molecules work in our bodies. In 2022, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a big honor for scientists.
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Growing Up and School
Susan Lea went to Oxford High School in England. She then studied at New College, Oxford, part of the University of Oxford. In 1990, she earned a degree in Physiological Sciences.
Dr. Lea continued her studies at the University of Oxford. She worked in a lab that focused on molecular biophysics. Her supervisor was David Stuart. For her doctoral research, she used a method called X-ray crystallography. This helped her understand the structure of the foot-and-mouth disease virus better.
Research and Career
After finishing her doctorate, Dr. Lea received a special fellowship. She started her own research group at the University of Oxford. Her team worked to understand the structures of human enteroviruses. These are viruses that can cause illnesses in people. They also studied how these viruses connect with human cells.
Later, Dr. Lea moved to another part of Oxford University. She became a lecturer in 1999. In 2016, she became a professor of microbiology. In 2021, Dr. Lea moved to the National Institutes of Health in the United States. There, she became the Chief of the Center for Structural Biology at the National Cancer Institute.
How Dr. Lea Studies Molecules
Dr. Lea uses advanced techniques to study tiny molecules. One method is cryogenic electron microscopy, or cryo-EM. Another is X-ray crystallography. These tools help her see the shapes of molecules. By understanding their shapes, she can learn how they work.
She is very interested in molecules that can cross cell membranes. These are like the walls of cells. Dr. Lea also studies proteins in our blood that help with immune responses. These proteins are important for fighting off sickness.
Her research has also looked at how bacteria cause diseases. She has studied bacteria that lead to meningitis and dysentery. She even helped figure out the structure of the flagellum. A flagellum is like a tiny tail that some bacteria use to move around.
Awards and Honors
Dr. Lea has received many important awards for her work.
- She was chosen as a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).
- She became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
- She was elected a Fellow of the American Society for Microbiology.
- In 2022, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is one of the oldest and most respected scientific honors.
Key Discoveries
Dr. Lea has published many scientific papers. Some of her important work includes:
- Understanding how to improve the study of incomplete structures using a method called BUSTER-TNT.
- Discovering the structure of a main part of the foot-and-mouth disease virus that the immune system recognizes.
- Explaining how the foot-and-mouth disease virus connects with a sugar molecule on cells.
