Catherine Abbott

Catherine Abbott is a professor of molecular genetics at the University of Edinburgh.

Cathy Abbott
Alma materUniversity of Reading
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 1993)​
Scientific career
FieldsMolecular genetics
InstitutionsUniversity of Edinburgh
University College London

Education

Abbott completed her Bachelor of Science in 1983 at the University of Reading.[1] She earned a PhD in Biochemical Genetics from the University of Reading and the Medical Research Council from Harwell in 1987.[2]

Research

After her PhD she joined University College London as a postdoctoral researcher working on mouse models of human diseases at a molecular level.[3] She moved to Edinburgh to work in the human genetics unit of the Medical Research Council and then as a tenured academic at the university.[3][4]

Abbott is a geneticist who studies a strain of mice that develop an early onset of motor neuron disease.[5] The gene that was mutated in the strain of mice was eEF1A2, which is also present in neurodevelopmental disorders.[3] She is also interested in what makes motor neurones particularly vulnerable to stress in comparison to other cells in the body, with a focus on making them more robust.[5] Abbott is developing new models of motor neuron disease to identify new targets for treatments.[6][7]

The eEF1A2 gene is mutated in some people with autism and epilepsy, and Abbott's lab are modelling the changes to find out why.[8][9][10] She keeps a lab blog, where they document the important gene mutations they have discovered so far.[11] She is interested in CRISPR/Cas Tools for gene editing.[3]

Abbott is a campaigns for diversity within the sciences, and has led the Athena SWAN applications at the University of Edinburgh.[12][13][14][15] She is a member of the British Neuroscience Association.[16] She is on the panel for the funding panel for the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research.[17] She is the Associate Editor for ACS journal Chemical Neuroscience.[18]

References
  1. "Catherine Abbott - Edinburgh Research Explorer". www.research.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  2. "Professor Catherine Abbott". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  3. "Researcher in Spotlight – Cathy Abbott – The Patrick Wild Centre". patrickwildcentre.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  4. "Cathy Abbott -Centre for Molecular Medicine-Research In A Nutshell- MRC Institute of Genetic and Molecular Medicine-12/07/2012". Media Hopper Create - The University of Edinburgh Media Platform. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  5. The Euan MacDonald Centre. "Professor Cathy Abbott". www.euanmacdonaldcentre.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  6. "New Model for MND". www.mndscotland.org.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  7. MND Scotland (23 August 2017), Prof. Catherine Abbott on creating a new MND model, retrieved 15 April 2018
  8. "Home: Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain". www.sidb.org.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  9. "Cathy Abbott – The Patrick Wild Centre". patrickwildcentre.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  10. "A day in the life of Cathy Abbott". www.muirmaxwellcentre.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  11. "eEF1A2 and epilepsy". eEF1A2 and epilepsy. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  12. "Researcher Spotlight: Dr Martyn Pickersgill". Wellcome Trust Blog. 14 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  13. "Equality & diversity". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  14. "Athena SWAN Silver Awards for Edinburgh Clinical Medical School and Dick Vet". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  15. "About Athena SWAN". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  16. "Edinburgh Neuroscience Day 2018". www.bna.org.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  17. "Funding Panel membership". www.nc3rs.org.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  18. "Editors- ACS Chemical Neuroscience". pubs.acs.org. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
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