Sir David Stuart | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Ian Stuart (1953-12-08)8 December 1953 (age 72) |
| Alma mater | University of London (BSc) University of Oxford (MA) University of Bristol (PhD)[3] |
| Awards | Descartes Prize Gregori Aminoff Prize Knight Bachelor |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Structural Biology Virology Crystallography Synchrotron radiation[1] |
| Institutions | Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics University of Oxford Diamond Light Source |
| Thesis | X-ray studies on pyruvate kinase (1979) |
| Doctoral advisor | Hilary Muirhead |
| Doctoral students | Susan Lea[2] |
| Website | www |
Sir David Ian Stuart (born 8 December 1953) is aMedical Research Council Professor ofStructural Biology at theWellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at theUniversity of Oxford where he is also aFellow ofHertford College, Oxford.[3] He is best known for his contributions to theX-ray crystallography ofviruses, in particular for determining the structures offoot-and-mouth disease virus,[4]bluetongue virus and the membrane-containing phagesPRD1 (the first structure of an enveloped virus) andPM2. He is also director of Instruct[5] and Life Sciences Director atDiamond Light Source.[6]
Stuart was born in 1953 inLancashire. He was educated initially inHelmshore, Lancashire, and then in NorthDevon, atBarnstaple Grammar School. He studied Biophysics atKing's College London, where he graduated with aBSc degree in 1974.[3] He subsequently attended theUniversity of Bristol and completed aPhD degree in the Biochemistry Department in 1979,[7] working on the structure of theenzymepyruvate kinase in the laboratory of Hilary Muirhead.[3]
Stuart moved to Oxford in 1979 and worked withLouise Johnson on the structure of the enzymeglycogen phosphorylase before moving in 1981 to work at theInstitute of Biophysics inBeijing, China, with Liang Dong-Cai oninsulin. Returning to Oxford in 1983 to work with Johnson he then in 1985 set up his own research group in the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, focused mainly on virus–receptor interactions and virus assembly. In 1999 Stuart led the establishment of the Division of Structural Biology, in the Nuffield Department of Medicine.
Stuart has solved the atomic structures of complex biological molecules and viruses, includingfoot-and-mouth disease virus,bluetongue virus and the membrane-containing phages PRD1 (the first structure of an enveloped virus) and PM2.[8][1][9] His structure of foot-and-mouth virus has assisted in the development of improved vaccines via structural vaccinology. He has also investigated the structure of theHIVreverse transcriptase protein, facilitating targeted drug design. Stuart also develops methods in structural biology and researches protein structure andevolution.
Since 2008 Stuart has, as life science director, helped the development of theDiamond Light Source, the UK's synchrotron light source. His former doctoral students includeSusan Lea.[2]
Stuart has received a number of awards and honours for his work on viral structure, including:
