Stephen D. M. Brown

For other people called Steve Brown, see Steve Brown.

Steve Brown
FRS FMedSci
Brown in 2015
Born
Stephen David Macleod Brown

(1955-05-03) 3 May 1955 (age 69)[8]
Dumfries, Scotland[8]
EducationBelfast Royal Academy
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge (BA, PhD)
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisThe molecular organisation and evolution of rodent genomes (1981)
Doctoral advisorGabriel Dover[4][5][6]
Doctoral studentsElizabeth Fisher[7]
Websitehar.mrc.ac.uk/research/lifetime-studies/genetics-and-pathobiology-deafness

Steve David Macleod Brown (born 3 May 1955) is a British geneticist who is director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Mammalian Genetics Unit, MRC Harwell at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire,[9][10][11][12][13] a research centre on mouse genetics. In addition, he leads the Genetics and Pathobiology of Deafness research group.[14]

Education

Brown was educated at Belfast Royal Academy[8] and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977[8] followed by a PhD in 1981 for research on the molecular organisation and evolution of rodent genomes[15] supervised by Gabriel Dover.[4]

Career and research

Brown conducts research in mouse genetics and genomics. He has studied repeated sequences in the DNA of mice and produced molecular maps of mouse chromosomes, which were used to sequence the mouse genome.[4][9][16] He subsequently pioneered efforts to functionally annotate the mouse genome and identify and generate novel disease models through mutagenesis and phenotyping. In particular, he has identified key proteins involved in hearing, contributing to the understanding of the genetics of deafness.[9] For example, research in Brown's laboratory has shown that a mutation in the Evi1 gene increases susceptibility to inflammation of the middle ear (otitis media) in mice, leading to hearing loss.[17]

A particular focus has been the use of mouse models to elucidate the molecular basis of genetic deafness. With Karen Steel, he discovered myosin VIIA as the gene underlying the shaker-1 mutant – one of the first deafness genes to be identified.[18]

Prior to being appointed director of Harwell in 1998, Brown was a professor at Imperial College London.[19] He is chair of the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium steering committee and joint editor-in-chief of the journal Mammalian Genome.[20][21]

Awards and honours

Brown was awarded The Genetics Society Medal in 2009,[citation needed] elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2001,[1] and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2015.[9][18] His certificate of election reads:

Stephen Brown is distinguished for his research in mouse genetics and genomics. He pioneered studies of repeated sequences in the mouse genome and the use of novel approaches to generate molecular maps of mouse chromosomes, work that underpinned the sequencing of the mouse genome. He has been at the forefront of new approaches in mutagenesis and phenotyping for the functional annotation of the mouse genome and the identification and characterisation of disease models. Notably, in collaboration he has utilised the mouse to study the genetics of deafness, identifying key proteins involved in auditory transduction, which has transformed our understanding in this field.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "Professor Steve Brown FRS FMedSci". London: Academy of Medical Sciences. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015.
  2. ^ Brown, S. D.; Hancock, J. M.; Gates, H (2006). "Understanding mammalian genetic systems: The challenge of phenotyping in the mouse". PLOS Genetics. 2 (8): e118. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0020118. PMC 1557775. PMID 16933996.
  3. ^ Steel, Karen P.; Brown, Stephen D.M. (1994). "Genes and deafness". Trends in Genetics. 10 (12): 428–35. doi:10.1016/0168-9525(94)90113-9. PMID 7871592.
  4. ^ a b c Brown, S. D. M.; Dover, G. A. (1980). "Conservation of segmental variants of satellite DNA of Mus musculus in a related species: Mus spretus". Nature. 285 (5759): 47–49. Bibcode:1980Natur.285...47B. doi:10.1038/285047a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 7374752. S2CID 4326610.
  5. ^ Dover, G. A.; Strachan, T; Coen, E. S.; Brown, S. D. (1982). "Molecular drive". Science. 218 (4577): 1069. Bibcode:1982Sci...218.1069D. doi:10.1126/science.7146895. PMID 7146894.
  6. ^ Brown, S. D.; Dover, G (1981). "Organization and evolutionary progress of a dispersed repetitive family of sequences in widely separated rodent genomes". Journal of Molecular Biology. 150 (4): 441–66. doi:10.1016/0022-2836(81)90374-0. PMID 6276556.
  7. ^ Fisher, Elizabeth Mary Claire (1987). Microcloning and molecular mapping of the mouse X chromosome. london.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of London. hdl:10044/1/66999. OCLC 1103939662. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.769180. Free access icon
  8. ^ a b c d Anon (2016). "Brown, Stephen David Macleod". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U284101. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ^ a b c d e Anon (2015). "Professor Stephen Brown FMedSci FRS". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015.
  10. ^ Silver, L. M.; Nadeau, J. H.; Brown, S. D. M.; Eppig, J. T.; Peters, J (1998). "Mammalian Genome, Incorporating Mouse Genome". Mammalian Genome. 9 (1): 1. doi:10.1007/s003359900669. PMID 9435276. S2CID 42368624.
  11. ^ Brown, S. D.; Moore, M. W. (2012). "The International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium: Past and future perspectives on mouse phenotyping". Mammalian Genome. 23 (9–10): 632–40. doi:10.1007/s00335-012-9427-x. PMC 3774932. PMID 22940749.
  12. ^ Brown, S. D. M.; Moore, M. W. (2012). "Towards an encyclopaedia of mammalian gene function: the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium". Disease Models & Mechanisms. 5 (3): 289–292. doi:10.1242/dmm.009878. ISSN 1754-8403. PMC 3339821. PMID 22566555.
  13. ^ "Profile: Steve Brown". Medical Research Council. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015.
  14. ^ "Genetics and Pathobiology of Deafness research group". Harwell: MRC Harwell.
  15. ^ Brown, Stephen D. M. (1981). The molecular organisation and evolution of rodent genomes. cam.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC 556404448. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.252843.
  16. ^ Brown, S. D.; Dover, G (1981). "Organization and evolutionary progress of a dispersed repetitive family of sequences in widely separated rodent genomes". Journal of Molecular Biology. 150 (4): 441–66. doi:10.1016/0022-2836(81)90374-0. PMID 6276556.
  17. ^ Parkinson, N; Hardisty-Hughes, R. E.; Tateossian, H; Tsai, H. T.; Brooker, D; Morse, S; Lalane, Z; MacKenzie, F; Fray, M; Glenister, P; Woodward, A. M.; Polley, S; Barbaric, I; Dear, N; Hough, T. A.; Hunter, A. J.; Cheeseman, M. T.; Brown, S. D. (2006). "Mutation at the Evi1 locus in Junbo mice causes susceptibility to otitis media". PLOS Genetics. 2 (10): e149. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0020149. PMC 1592239. PMID 17029558.
  18. ^ a b Anon (2015). "Professor Steve Brown FMedSci FRS". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:

    "All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." --"Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^ "MRC Harwell Timeline". Medical Research Council. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014.
  20. ^ "Mammalian Genome: Editorial Board". Springer. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  21. ^ "IMPC Steering Committee". International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium.