Dame Carol Robinson | |
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 Carol Robinson presenting John Fenn Lecture 2023 | |
| Born | Carol Vivien Bradley (1956-04-10)10 April 1956 (age 69)[2] |
| Nationality | British |
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| Thesis | Structural studies on bioactive organic compounds (1982) |
| Website | www |
Dame Carol Vivien Robinson (born 10 April 1956) is a Britishchemist and former president of theRoyal Society of Chemistry (2018–2020).[3] She was aRoyal Society Research Professor and is theDr Lee's Professor of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, and a professorial fellow atExeter College,University of Oxford. She is the founding director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford,[4] and she was previously professor ofmass spectrometry at the chemistry department of theUniversity of Cambridge.[1][5][6][7][8]
Born in Kent, the daughter of Denis E. Bradley and Lillian (née Holder),[9] Carol Vivien Bradley left school at 16 and began her career as a lab technician inSandwich, Kent withPfizer, where she began working with the then novel technique ofmass spectrometry.[10]
Her potential was spotted, and she gained further qualifications at evening classes and day release from her job atPfizer. After earning her degree, she left Pfizer and studied for a Master of Science degree at theUniversity of Swansea, followed by a Ph.D. at theUniversity of Cambridge,[11] which she completed in just two years.[5] During this time she was a student atChurchill College, Cambridge.[2]
After apostdoctoral training fellowship at theUniversity of Bristol,[12] Robinson took up a junior position in themass spectrometry unit at theUniversity of Oxford, where she began analysingprotein folding.[13] Robinson and colleagues successfully captured protein folding in the presence of thechaperoneGroEL, demonstrating that at least some aspects of protein secondary structure could be studied in thegas phase.
Robinson was the first woman professor in the department of chemistry at both theUniversity of Cambridge (2001) and theUniversity of Oxford (2009).[14][independent source needed] Her research demonstrated thatelectrospray ionization mass spectrometry could be used to studyproteins and other complexmacromolecules in the gas phase.[15] In addition to her contributions to the study of protein folding, Robinson has studiedribosomes,molecular chaperones and most recentlymembrane proteins.[16][17][18][19] Her research has made contributions to gas-phase structural biology, including the study of protein complexes in their native environments for drug discovery.[20] Additionally, she is a co-founder of OMass Therapeutics, aUniversity of Oxford spin-out company applying mass spectrometry technology to drug discovery.[21]
Robinson was awarded theAmerican Society for Mass Spectrometry's Biemann Medal in 2003, and theChristian B. Anfinsen Award in 2008. In 2004, theRoyal Society awarded her both aFellowship (FRS)[22] and theRosalind Franklin Award.[23] Her citation for the Royal Society reads:[22]
Distinguished for her research on the application of mass spectrometry to problems inchemical biology. She has used mass spectrometry to define the folding and binding of interactingproteins in large complexes. Most importantly, she has established that macromolecular complexes such asGroEL,ribosomes, and intact viruscapsids can be generated in the gas phase and theirelectrospray mass spectra recorded. This work has demonstrated the power of mass spectrometry in studying very large complexes and allowed her to define changes in their conformation and the manner of their assembly.
In 2010, Robinson received theDavy Medal "for her ground-breaking and novel use of mass spectrometry for the characterisation of large protein complexes".[24][25]
In 2011, she was given the Interdisciplinary Prize by theRoyal Society of Chemistry for "development of a new area of research, gas-phase structural biology, using highly refined mass spectrometry techniques",[26] theAston Medal, and theFEBS/EMBOWomen in Science Award.
She was appointedDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the2013 New Year Honours for services to science and industry.[27]
She received theThomson Medal Award in 2014.[28]
In 2015, she was a laureate of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards "for her groundbreaking work in macromolecular mass spectrometry and pioneering gas phase structural biology by probing the structure and reactivity of single proteins and protein complexes, including membrane proteins."[29]
In 2017, she was elected a Foreign Associate of the USNational Academy of Sciences.[30]
In 2018, she won the Frank H. Field and Joe L. Franklin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry from theAmerican Chemical Society.[31]
In 2019, she won theNovozymes Prize for "almost single-handedly founding a subfield of mass spectrometry proteomics".[32] Also in 2019 she received theRoyal Medal.[33]
In 2020, she was chosen as the recipient of theOthmer Gold Medal.[34][35]
In 2021, she received the 2022Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine.[36] and the 2022 European Chemistry Gold Medal by theEuropean Chemical Society.[37] Also in 2021, she became an International Honorary Member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.[38]
In 2022, she was awarded theFranklin Institute Award for Chemistry.[39]
In 2023, she was elected to the American Philosophical Society and was awarded the John B. Fenn Award for Distinguished Contribution to Mass Spectrometry.[40] She was named one of the top ten "Innovators and Trailbalzers" on the 2023 Power List by the Analytical Scientist.[41]
In 2024, she received the EPO European Inventor Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in mass spectrometry that significantly advanced biochemical research and medical diagnostics. On 19 June 2024, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge in recognition of her achievements in chemistry.
In 2024, she was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors.
She has been awarded 13 honorary doctorates including the Weizmann Institute of Science, Aarhus University Denmark,University of Kent, theUniversity of York, and theUniversity of Bristol.[42]
On 10 August 2025, Robinson appeared onBBC Radio 4'sDesert Island Discs.[43][44]
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