Alison Gail Smith

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Alison Smith, see Allison Smith.

Alison Smith
FRSB
Born
Alison Gail Smith
Alma mater
Spouse
​
(m. 1988)​
[1]
Children2
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
ThesisChlorosis induction in haloblight disease of bean: a biochemical study (1981)
Websitewww.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/research/alisonsmith

Alison Gail Smith, Lady Hopper FRSB is Professor of Plant Biochemistry in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK.[2][3][4] Her research investigates the metabolism of plants, algae and bacteria, in particular vitamin and cofactor biosynthesis.[5][6][7][8]

Education

Smith was educated at the University of Bristol where she was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry in 1977.[9] She moved to the University of Cambridge, to do a Ph.D. investigating the role of a toxin produced by the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae in causing the symptoms of halo blight of green beans, which she completed in 1981.[10]

Research and career

Smith's research[11] investigates the:

...metabolism of plants, algae and bacteria, in particular vitamin and cofactor biosynthesis, using a wide range of techniques from biochemistry through molecular biology to genomics, coupled with mathematical modeling approaches. The knowledge gained from these studies is being used to explore the potential for metabolic engineering of high value products in plants and algae, and other biotechnological uses of algae, such as for biodiesel production. In parallel, studies of symbiotic interactions between algae and bacteria are providing insights into algal communities in natural ecosystems, and in dense cultures necessary for industrial cultivation.[4]

Research in Smith's group is also investigating the potential for exploitation of algae for

algae fuel and algaculture.[12] Her research has been funded by the European Union,[13] the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council.[14]

She is a council member of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom of the United Kingdom and as a member of the board of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany.[4]

Awards and honours

Smith was awarded a

Erskine Fellowship from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, and she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) in 2012.[3]

Smith was interviewed by Jim Al-Khalili on The Life Scientific, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.[16]

Personal life

Smith is married to computer scientist Andy Hopper (Sir Andrew Hopper), with whom she has two children.[1][17]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U20751. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ Alison Gail Smith publications from Europe PubMed Central
  3. ^ a b Smith, Alison (2016). "Alison Smith CV" (PDF). University of Cambridge. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Anon (2015). "Plant Metabolism at the University of Cambridge". University of Cambridge.
  5. PMID 20399634
    .
  6. S2CID 4328049
    .
  7. doi:10.1021/ef1003123
    .
  8. PMID 16884311
    .
  9. ORCID 0000-0001-6511-5704
  10. ^ Smith, Alison Gail (1981). Chlorosis induction in haloblight disease of bean: a biochemical study. ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge.
  11. ^ Alison Gail Smith's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
    - Alison Gail Smith publications indexed by Google Scholar
  12. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2012.03.022
    .
  13. ^ Ghosh, Pallab (2016). "UK scientists speak about Brexit pain". London: BBC. Archived from the original on 21 July 2016.
  14. ^ Anon (2016). "UK government grants awarded to Alison Gail Smith". gtr.rcuk.ac.uk. Swindon: Research Councils UK. Archived from the original on 26 January 2017.
  15. PMID 18818314. Open access icon
  16. ^ Al-Khalili, Jim (2017). "Alison Smith on algae". London: BBC.

    Alison Smith, Professor of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, is a world expert on algae, which range in size from giant kelp to microscopic cyanobacteria. They are found all over the world from the Arctic to the Tropics, live in water and make energy from the sun by photosynthesis. She talks to Jim al-Khalili about their biology and their many uses, such as biofuels.
  17. ^ Lean, Thomas (2010). "Professor Andy Hopper Interview" (PDF). sounds.bl.uk. London: British Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2012.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alison_Gail_Smith&oldid=1217455437"