Tony Pawson (biochemist)


Anthony James Pawson was a British-born Canadian genetic scientist. He was known and recognized for his work on cellular organization, including how cells respond to growth signals, and how they communicate with each other.
Pawson is the recipient of several notable awards such as Gairdner Foundation International Award, Wolf Prize in Medicine, Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates and Kyoto Prize.

Biography

Pawson was born in Maidstone, England. He was the son of the sportsman and writer Tony Pawson, and botanist and high-school teacher Hilarie. He was the eldest of three children.
He studied at the Winchester College and Clare College, Cambridge, where he received an MA in biochemistry followed by a PhD from King's College London in 1976. From 1976 to 1980 he pursued postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley. From 1981 to 1985, he was Assistant Professor in microbiology at the University of British Columbia.
Pawson was a Distinguished Investigator and former Director of Research at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital and Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto both of which he joined in 1985.
Pawson died on 7 August 2013 of unspecified causes at the age of 60.

Research

Pawson's research changed the understanding of signal transduction, the molecular mechanisms by which cells respond to external cues, and how they communicate with each other. He identified the phosphotyrosine-binding Src homology 2 as the prototypic non-catalytic interaction module. SH2 domains serve as a model for a large family of protein modules that act together to control many aspects of cellular signalling. Since the discovery of SH2 domains, hundreds of different modules have been identified in many proteins.

Honours and awards