معرفی
Dame Carol Robinson DBE FRS FMedSci FRSC holds the Dr Lee's Professor of Chemistry position at the University of Oxford and serves as Director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery. She is Oxford's first female Professor of Chemistry and previously served as the first female Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge (2001-2009). Her foundational work established native mass spectrometry as a critical technology for studying protein structures, interactions, and dynamics.
Her research focuses on native mass spectrometry applications for membrane proteins, particularly examining protein-lipid interactions, antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, and post-translational modifications. Current projects include developing membrane mimetics like lipodisqs for physiological environment recapitulation, ejecting complexes directly from native membranes, and linking metabolites to health disorders through her Nativeomics approach. Her work bridges fundamental structural biology with therapeutic applications through OMass Therapeutics, a spin-out company using native MS for drug development in immunologic and genetic disorders.
Her publications reveal strong emphasis on membrane protein complexity, lipid microenvironments, and drug discovery applications. Recent work demonstrates native MS capabilities in capturing physiological lipid interactions, characterizing antibiotic mechanisms, and analyzing orphan GPCR signaling complexes.
Award highlights include:
- Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry (2022)
- Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine (2022)
- Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2013)
- Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences (2017)
- Royal Medal A from the Royal Society
Professor Robinson founded OMass Therapeutics (formerly OMass Technologies) in 2016, leveraging native mass spectrometry for drug therapy development. Her career includes an eight-year break for child-rearing before becoming Cambridge's first female Chemistry Professor. She served as President of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry and maintains active collaborations across academic and industrial laboratories. Her research group continues advancing native MS methodologies for structural biology challenges, particularly in membrane protein analysis and therapeutic target identification.
