Elizabeth Jane Robertson is a British developmental biologist based at the

Sir William Dunn School of Pathology The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology is a department within the University of Oxford. Its research programme includes the cellular and molecular biology of pathogens, the immune response, cancer and cardiovascular disease. It teaches undergr ...

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. She is Professor of Developmental Biology at Oxford and a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow. She is best known for her pioneering work in developmental genetics, showing that genetic mutations could be introduced into the mouse germ line by using genetically altered

embryonic stem cell Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are Cell potency#Pluripotency, pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre-Implantation (human embryo), implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4� ...

s. This discovery opened up a major field of experimentation for biologists and clinicians.

Education

Robertson earned her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

. She received a PhD from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1982 under the supervision of

Martin Evans Sir Martin John Evans FLSW (born 1 January 1941) is an English biologist who, with Matthew Kaufman, was the first to culture mice embryonic stem cells and cultivate them in a laboratory in 1981. He is also known, along with Mario Capecchi ...

Career and research

After her PhD, she stayed on at the University of Cambridge for her

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

ship and continued to work there as a research assistant following the completion of her fellowship. She was a professor first at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and then

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

before moving to the University of Oxford. In her lab at Columbia she was the first to show that embryonic stem cells carrying genetic mutations could contribute to all parts of the adult mouse body, including the cells that eventually make up the

gamete A gamete ( ) is a Ploidy#Haploid and monoploid, haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that Sexual reproduction, reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as s ...

s, i.e. sperm and egg cells, allowing these mutations to be transmitted to the next generation. She used this approach to test the role of specific

growth factor A growth factor is a naturally occurring substance capable of stimulating cell proliferation, wound healing, and occasionally cellular differentiation. Usually it is a secreted protein or a steroid hormone. Growth factors are important for ...

s in embryonic development, and to screen for previously unknown

gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

s that prevent normal development. Robertson's work was among the first to show that the disruption of many genes has surprisingly little effect on development and organismal

phenotype In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological propert ...

, contributing to a long-running challenge in the understanding of the

robustness Robustness is the property of being strong and healthy in constitution. When it is transposed into a system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, ...

of biological systems. She has also made significant contributions to the question of how the early embryo determines the anterior-posterior polarity that patterns the embryo from head to tail and the mechanisms that pattern the embryo from left to right. Robertson currently serves as an editor of the journal ''

Development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

.'' She serves on the editorial boards of ''

Developmental Biology Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of Regeneration (biology), regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and di ...

'', '' Current Opinion in Genetics & Development'', and '' Developmental Cell''.

Honours and awards

Robertson was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to medical sciences. * 2016:

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society. Two are given for "the mo ...

"for her innovative work within the field of mouse embryology and development, establishing the pathways involved in early body planning of the mammalian embryo." *

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 ...

, since 2003 *Member of the

European Molecular Biology Organisation The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

(EMBO) since 2002 * Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow *Chair of the British Society for Developmental BiologyBritish Society for Developmental Biology
bsdb.org; accessed 9 April 2018. *Winner of the 2008 Edwin G. Conklin Medal (The Society for Developmental Biology) *Fellow at the

David and Lucile Packard Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. It was created in 1964 by David Packard (co-founder of HP) and his wife Lucile Salter Packard. Following David Packard's dea ...

1990–1995 *Chair of General Motors Cancer Research Foundation * Sloan Prize Committee *Member of General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Assembly *Associate member of the European Molecular Biology Organization *2011 Member of Academia Europaea (MAE) *2011

Suffrage Science award The Suffrage Science award is a prize for women in science, engineering and computing founded in 2011, on the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS). There are three categories of awar ...

*2009 Waddington Medal *2007

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and pro ...

's Pearl Meister Greengard Prize *1992 The

American Association for Cancer Research The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, the AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research, including Basic research, basic, ...

: Cornelius P Rhoads Award *1990–1995 Stohlman Scholar for the Leukemia Society of America *1990 Irma T Hirschl Career Development Award *1989

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to co ...

Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Elizabeth Living people British geneticists Fellows of the Royal Society Female fellows of the Royal Society British women scientists Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Oxford Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Year of birth missing (living people) Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellows British LGBTQ scientists British developmental biologists Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Commanders of the Order of the British Empire