Deborah Charlesworth | |
|---|---|
| Born | Deborah Maltby (1943-03-13)13 March 1943 (age 82) |
| Citizenship | British |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 daughter |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Evolutionary biology |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Biometrical studies of some biochemical characters in the mouse (1969) |
| Doctoral students | Philip Awadalla |
| Other notable students | Gilean McVean (postdoc) |
Deborah CharlesworthFRS FRSE (née Maltby; born 1943) is apopulation geneticist from theUK, notable for her important discoveries inpopulation genetics andevolutionary biology.[3][4] Her most notable research is in understanding the evolution ofrecombination,sex chromosomes and mating system for plants.[3]
Charlesworth grew up in aLondon suburb, and from a young age was very interested in the natural world around her.[5]
Although Charlesworth initially studied biochemistry, genetic variation played a significant role from the beginning her research.[6] Charlesworth obtained her doctorate atCambridge University in 1968 with her thesis focusing on the quantitative genetics of mice, specifically the extent of genetic variation in the blood glucose levels across natural strains.[6]
Charlesworth continued her research atCambridge and Chicago as a research fellow in human genetics examining amino acid variations in hemoglobins in human populations.[6] Charlesworth's interest in evolutionary biology continued through her collaboration withBrian Charlesworth, specifically their works on mimicry systems and recombination rates causing her to shift her focus to evolution.[6] She continued her post-doctoral research at,University of Chicago,University of Liverpool andUniversity of Sussex asBrian Charlesworth took positions at each, causing her to do research without financial support.[6] She was mentored at Cambridge byHermann Lehmann.[7]
From 1988 - 1997, at the age of 45, Charlesworth obtained her first faculty position, teaching atUniversity of Chicago.[5] By this time, Charlesworth had already published ~50 articles.[6] Charlesworth was then appointed to a Professorial Research Fellowship at theUniversity of Edinburgh.[8]
She is best known for her work on the evolution of genetic self-incompatibility in plants and is recognised as a leader in that field. According to theWeb of Science she has published over 300 articles inpeer-reviewed journals. These articles have been cited over 10,000 times and she has anh-index of 53.[9] She has been married since 1967 to the British evolutionary biologistBrian Charlesworth, who she ended up working in population genetics with.[5]
Charlesworth was elected aFellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh in 2001[5] and aFellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2005.[10]In 2011, Charlesworth was awarded the Molecular Ecology Prize.[11] Charlesworth was awarded the Genetics Society Medal 2019.[2] She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by theSociety for the Study of Evolution in January 2020.[1]In 2022, she was elected to theNational Academy of Sciences.[12]
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