Talk:Anne Ferguson-Smith

Anne Ferguson-Smith Wikibiography

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Duncan.Hull (talk) 21:16, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

Fixing edits made 29th August 2017

Hello @Christine-Alexandra-Alexander: and @131.111.185.81:, thanks for your contributions to this article. Some edits removed previous work, so I have corrected them. I have also:

• fixed citations broken or deleted by previous edits (e.g. her PhD thesis)
• added links to Frank Ruddle and Azim Surani
• fixed the usage of Template:URL in the infobox
• corrected the usage of Template:Plainlist in the infobox
• moved references inline as per WP:CITE and maintain a consistent referencing style within in the article

When citing journals it is good practice to use Template:Cite journal and avoid using Bare URLs, which are subject to link rot. You can do this using tools like the Wikipedia:VisualEditor, clicking on "cite" in the toolbar and pasting in the appropriate identifier which will fetch the relevant metadata for you automatically to save you the tedious job of typing it in by hand Duncan.Hull (talk) 21:16, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

Ongoing edits to this page

Hi everyone. I have made some changes to the main text as requested by Anne Ferguson-Smith herself. They should not be contentious. Please do not reverse them again. I have also reversed the recent inclusion in American and Scottish science groups, again at the request of A F-S herself. Additionally, I have been asked to correct and even remove some of the references, because they are not representative of Prof F-S work. Please allow me to do this at a later date. Christine-Alexandra-Alexander (talk) 07:53, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Proposed changes to Anne Ferguson-Smith Wikibiography

{{edit COI}}

* Specific text to be added or removed:

From page info template:

• Delete 'Spouse' section from page info template

• Delete 'Children' section from page info template

• Update 'Institutions' content by replacing 'University of Cambridge' with Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council in page info template

Page content proposed re-draft:

Anne Carla Ferguson-Smith CBE FRS FMedSci is a mammalian developmental geneticist. She is Executive Chair at the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics at the University of Cambridge. Prior to taking up post as BBSRC's Executive Chair on 1 July 2024, Anne was Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and International Partnerships at the University of Cambridge. She is a Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge and serves as President of the Genetics Society.

An authority on genomic imprinting and the epigenetic control of genome function in health and disease, Anne is recognised for her work on parental-origin effects and epigenetic mechanisms. Her work has uncovered epigenetically regulated processes in development and over the life course. Anne's research has also identified key in vivo mechanisms involved in the maintenance of epigenetic states. She also explores communication between the environment and the genome with implications for health, disease and inheritance.

Education

Anne was born on 23 July 1961 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. She was educated at the University of Glasgow where she was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology. She moved to the biology department at Yale University to undertake a PhD identifying human Hox genes and characterising mammalian Hox clusters, supervised by Frank Ruddle.

Career and research

Anne conducted postdoctoral research with Azim Surani at the University of Cambridge from 1989 to 1994, where she initiated molecular studies on genomic imprinting - the process causing genes to be expressed according to their parental origin. The team identified one of the first endogenous imprinted genes, showing that the process was epigenetically regulated by DNA methylation.

Her subsequent research in the Department of Physiology Development and Neuroscience (formerly Anatomy) at the University of Cambridge identified functions for, and regulatory mechanisms of, genomic imprinting, and contributed to its establishment as a model for understanding the epigenetic control of mammalian genome function. This work resulted in the characterisation of pathways important in mammalian development and growth, in the regulation of metabolism and in the control of adult neurogenesis.

In 2013, Anne was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge and became the seventh Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics in 2015. Her research continues to forge links between DNA sequence, epigenetic modifications and gene regulation and their impact on phenotype - and the mechanisms and implications of epigenetic inheritance.

Professor Ferguson-Smith has made significant professional contributions beyond her research. She has served as President of the UK Genetics Society since 2021. She is also internationally recognised for her expertise and leadership, most notably through her role as Visiting Professor at Nanyang Technical University, Singapore.

Honours and awards

Anne’s research contributions have been recognised with numerous prestigious awards and honours. She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2002 and was awarded EMBO Membership in 2006. In 2014, Anne won the Suffrage Science award before being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2017.

She was awarded the Buchanan Medal 2021 by the Royal Society for 'her pioneering work in epigenetics, her interdisciplinary work on genomic imprinting, the interplay between the genome and epigenome, and how genetic and environmental influences affect development and human diseases'.

Anne was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to medical research.

Personal life

Anne is the daughter of British geneticist, Malcolm Ferguson-Smith.

Summary of changes:

• Updated opening para to reflect Anne's new role as BBSRC Executive Chair

• Updated content to include Anne's roles as President of the UK Genetics Society and Visiting Professor at Nanyang Technical University, Singapore.

• Update honours and awards content to make it more current. Also listed awards in chronological order. Inserted source references throughout.

• Deleted references to Anne's marriage and her children in personal life to reflect those deleted in the page info template.

* Reason for the change:

Anne Ferguson-Smith has personally requested the above changes. She would like all references to her marriage and two children removed completely. The changes are also required to reflect Anne's new appointment as Executive Chair at BBSRC, which she commenced on 1 July 2024. All other changes are proposed so as to make her biographical information as current as possible with necessary source links.

* References supporting change:

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

https://genetics.org.uk/about-us/committee-members/

Faculty | Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine | NTU Singapore

Buchanan Medal | Royal Society M.Beattie (talk) 00:45, 14 October 2024 (UTC)