Julie Forman-Kay is a scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and professor at University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the dynamics, interactions, structures, and functions of intrinsically disordered proteins.

Early life and career

Forman-Kay obtained a degree in chemistry from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1985. She carried out her graduate studies at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in the laboratory of Fred M. Richards. She also worked at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

in the lab of Angela Gronenborn and

Marius Clore G. Marius Clore MAE, FRSC, FMedSci, FRS is a British-born, Anglo-American molecular biophysicist and structural biologist. He was born in London, U.K. and is a dual U.S./U.K. Citizen. He is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fe ...

. Forman-Kay joined the Hospital for Sick Children in 1992, where she is currently a Program Head and Senior Scientist and Senior Scientist in the Molecular Medicine program. Furthermore she is also the Co-Director of the Structural & Biophysical Core Facility. Forman-Kay is also currently a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, at

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Research

Forman-Kay's research focuses on structural, functional, and bioinformatic studies of

intrinsically disordered proteins In molecular biology, an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) is a protein that lacks a fixed or ordered protein tertiary structure, three-dimensional structure, typically in the absence of its macromolecular interaction partners, such as other ...

using a combination of computational and experimental approaches. Her research has characterised the dynamic complexes of many disordered proteins and their ability to undergo liquid-liquid phase separation. Forman-Kay has developed a software tool called ENSEMBLE which uses experimental data from

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...

spectroscopy and Small-angle X-ray scattering to predict the conformations that represent the structural ensembles of disordered proteins.

Awards

In 2016, Forman-Kay was elected as

Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Canada judges to have "made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life" ...

in 2016. In 2021, Forman-Kay was elected as a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

Personal life

Forman-Kay is married to biochemist Lewis Kay and has two children. Forman-Kay is also a violinist and plays classical chamber music.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forman-Kay, Julie Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Academic staff of the University of Toronto Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Living people Canadian biochemists Women biophysicists Year of birth missing (living people) Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni