Anne Warner (scientist)

Warner in her laboratory (early 1990s)

Anne Warner FRS (25 August 1940 – 16 May 2012)[1] was a British biologist and a professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at University College London.[2] Her major field of research was morphogenesis.[3] Dr. Anne Warner was known for her work and leadership in a variety of research projects and organizations. She is perhaps most well known for her roles as a cell electrophysiologist, politician of science, and founder of the organization UCL centre CoMPLEX.[4]

Education

Born on August 25, 1940 as Anne Brooks, Dr. Anne Warner obtained her education in the West Country of England. After schooling at the University College of London, Warner earned a degree in physiology and completed her PhD in 1964 at the National Institute for Medical Research with Otto Hutter in 1964 at the young age of 23 years old.[4] In this same year, Dr. Warner accepted her first official position outside of school, a staff position located at Mill Hill. It was in this position that she began to research the affect of pH on skeletal muscle chloride conductance.

Research

Although Dr. Warner was a participant and leader in a wide variety of research projects, she is perhaps most well known for her work with the role of gap junctions in embryological development, which she began to pursue during the late 1970s following her research at Mill Hill.[4] For the last 20 years before Dr. Warner began her research on gap junctions, embryologists had been working hard to prove that gap junctions were the means through which cells communicated and associated into tissues during embryological development. Anne Warner, along with her colleague Sarah Guthrie, was said to have ended this journey with her discovery and conclusions.[5] While working with the embryos of frogs, Dr. Warner observed "electrical coupling" between adjacent cells, meaning that an induced change in the resting voltage of one cell resulted in a corresponding change in an adjacent cell, which demonstrated the fact that junctions between the cells are responsible for transporting ions from one location to the next.[6] However, Dr. Warner noticed that the gap junctions appeared to be present during some developmental stages, but not others.

In order to prove the essential role of these gap junctions in embryological development, Dr. Warner conducted experiments during the 1980s to block these junctions and observe the resulting effects.[6] Using the 8-cell-embryos of the African Clawed Frog, Xenopus, she utilized antibody injections in order to block the channels in the connexons of the gap junctions. After injecting the embryos with a specific antibody, which was said to have blocked the channels of gap junctions, Dr. Warner confirmed the blockage of the channels by injecting dyes into the cells in addition to confirming the lack of electrical coupling that she observed in earlier experiments.[6]

After confirming the successful blocking of the gap junctions in the 8-cell-embryos, Dr. Warner continued to grow the embryos and took note that due to the blockage of the gap junctions, development of the toads was abnormal.[6] Thus, Dr. Warner was the scientist responsible for confirming the crucial role of gap junction in the successful and normal development of cells from embryos to mature organisms. Through this discovery, Dr. Warner contributed to the growing research on the process of cell proliferation and maturation from an embryo to a fully functioning organism.

Leadership and organizations

In addition to her research, Dr. Warner was also involved in a plethora of organizations, and found herself to be a leader in the majority. Dr. Warner was a member of a variety of organizations throughout her life including the NERC, the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, the Roslin Institute, the editorial board of the The Journal of Physiology, the Committee of The Physiological Society, and many MRC boards and policy committees. In 1976, Dr. Warner returned to her alma mater as she was appointed to the University College London as a Lecturer in the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine.[4] Throughout her years of work at the university, Dr. Warner took on several different roles and positions, including her position as Reader in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology and her role as the Royal Society Foulerton Professor, an honor that she was granted in 1986.[4] In addition, Dr. Warner became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1985. Of all of the organizations and leadership roles that Dr. Warner was involved in, she is perhaps most well known for her role as Vice President of the Marine Biological Association (MBA) council and Director of the CoMPLEX (Centre of Mathematic, Physics, and Life Sciences) at the University College London. With Dr. Warner's role in the MBA, she is partially responsible for the organization's survival and legacy to this day. Among many of the programs that Dr. Warner started in the organization, she founded the Cell Physiology Workshop in 1984, which was responsible for creating many cell physiologist cohorts across the world.[4] As director of the UCL CoMPLEX during its infantile stages, Dr. Warner was a cofounder of the organization and fostered its development during her many years as its leader. As the leader of the organization, Dr. Warner brought together a variety of different scientists to work towards the common goal of developing the field of biology. The organization became an example and model for similar organizations in other countries.[4] With her efforts in the variety of organizations that Dr. Warner was involved in, she created a lasting legacy through her many programs that are still used today.

End of life

Dr. Warner died at the age of 71 due to health complications. Her health began to decline after a heart valve replacement that her body did not accept well, and at this time she was no longer able to be physically involved in the many organizations that she was a part of. However, she remained in communication with the organizations and gave them advice throughout the time of her illness. After an extended illness, Dr. Warner died of an intracerebral hemorrhage. Upon her death, one particular colleague of the UCL wrote an article about Dr. Warner which demonstrated her personality that enabled her to reach many of her goals in life.[7] Dr. Warner was known as a formidable lady who brought together her colleagues through her perseverance and motivation to solve problems. Through her tireless efforts, Dr. Warner dedicated her life to making a difference in her field of research and the many organizations that she was a part of.

References

  1. ↑ Notices 2012, The Royal Society
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-17. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
  3. ↑ "Listening in on cells' channels of communication". New Scientist. 17 November 1977.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ashmore, Jonathan. "Anne Warner FRS 1940–2012." (n.d.): n. pag. Physiological Society. The Physiological Society, 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
  5. ↑ Information, Reed Business (1984-10-11). New Scientist. Reed Business Information.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Information, Reed Business (1977-11-17). New Scientist. Reed Business Information.
  7. ↑ "My Friend Anne". blog.prof.so. Retrieved 2016-11-20.

Bibliography

External links

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