Profile of Dame Carol Robinson

Abstract

Over a quarter century ago, chemist Carol Robinson led research that yielded the first mass spectra of molecular chaperones in complex with protein ligands. The achievement, which defied early scientific dogma concerning the theorized limits of mass spectrometry, inspired a discipline: gas-phase structural biology. Since then, the work of this first female professor of chemistry at Oxford University, who was formerly the first female professor of chemistry at Cambridge University, has advanced mass spectrometry’s utility in uncovering the 3D architecture of macromolecular complexes. Appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2013, Robinson was elected as a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 2017. The following year, Robinson and her team accomplished their goal of ejecting protein complexes directly from native membrane fragments into a mass spectrometer. Her Inaugural Article (1) details her path toward this feat, one that holds promise for improving the assessment of numerous therapeutics.\n\n\n\nDame Carol Robinson. Image courtesy of Robert Taylor (taylor-photo.co.uk).\n\n\n\nBorn in the county of Kent in Southeast England, Robinson lived with her family in London until they moved to the port town of Folkestone when she was 10-years-old. She says, “I remember being struck by the fact that there was so much wildlife around. I started a nature collection of wildflowers, frogspawn, and stick insects.” She also was fascinated from an early age by the periodic table, which led to an early interest in chemistry.\n\nAfter taking preuniversity O-level science courses and passing the 11-plus examination administered to some students in their last year of primary education, in 1972, at age 16, Robinson left school. Shortly thereafter, she accepted a laboratory technician position with the pharmaceutical firm Pfizer. She was proud of her title, gas liquid chromatographer, but did not initially enjoy the work. “My role …