Dame Juliet Ann Gerrard (born 1967) is a New Zealand biochemistry academic. She is a professor at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...

and the New Zealand Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor.

Early life

Gerrard was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, England, in 1967. Her family frequently moved around the United Kingdom when she was a child, living in various locations including

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

. She liked science and focused on chemistry in her studies.

Education and career

Gerrard obtained a first-class honours degree in chemistry at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a 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 world's second-oldest university in contin ...

and then in 1992 a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

titled ''Studies on dihydrodipicolinate synthase'', also from Oxford. She moved to Crop and Food in New Zealand in 1997 and then the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

in 1998, where she rose to full professor. She then moved to a professorship at the

in 2014, where she holds a Callaghan Innovation Industry and Outreach Fellowship. Having been the recipient of

Marsden grant Marsden grants are the main form of contestable funding for fundamental, 'blue skies' research in New Zealand. Grants are made in all areas of research, in both science and the humanities. The grants are made from the Marsden Fund, which was establ ...

s herself in 1998 and 2003, Gerrard went on to serve as the chair of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

's Marsden Fund Council from 2012 until 2018. Her research includes investigations of protein-protein interactions,

lysine Lysine (symbol Lys or K) is an α-amino acid that is a precursor to many proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated form under biological conditions), an α-carboxylic acid group (which is in the deprotonated &minu ...

biosynthesis (particularly the enzyme

dihydrodipicolinate synthase 4-Hydroxy-tetrahydrodipicolinate synthase (EC 4.3.3.7, dihydrodipicolinate synthase, dihydropicolinate synthetase, dihydrodipicolinic acid synthase, L-aspartate-4-semialdehyde hydro-lyase (adding pyruvate and cyclizing), ''dapA (gene)'') is an enz ...

) and the application of protein chemistry to the food industry. She has over 175 publications, including three books. In June 2018 she was appointed the

New Zealand Prime Minister The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (informa ...

's Chief Science Advisor, succeeding Sir Peter Gluckman and taking up the role for a three-year term starting 1 July 2018. In her role she has tried to "draw on as many science voices as possible", and to be "rigorous, transparent, accessible and inclusive".

Honours and awards

In 2004, Gerrard won a National Teaching Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching. In 2012, she was elected a Fellow of the

. In 2018, she was made an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

. In the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, Gerrard was appointed a

Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to science. In 2017, Gerrard was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "

150 women in 150 words Fifteen or 15 may refer to: * 15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.

Other

She has a

koru The ''koru'' () is a spiral shape based on the appearance of a new unfurling silver fern frond. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattooing, where it symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace. Its shape "conveys the ...

tattoo on her back, purchased for by her lab group for being made professor before her fortieth birthday. She has spun out her own company called Hi-Aspect, which produces protein

nanofibres Nanofibers are fibers with diameters in the nanometer range (typically, between 1 nm and 1 μm). Nanofibers can be generated from different polymers and hence have different physical properties and application potentials. Examples of natural polyme ...

for medical and other uses. She is divorced and has two children.

Selected works

Books

Journal papers

* * * * *

References

External links

Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor
*
Homepage

Biomolecular Interaction Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerrard, Juliet 1967 births Living people New Zealand biochemists Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand New Zealand women chemists Alumni of the University of Oxford Academic staff of the University of Auckland Academic staff of the University of Canterbury New Zealand women academics Recipients of Marsden grants Date of birth missing (living people) Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Scientists from Nottingham English emigrants to New Zealand