Jeremy Brockes


Jeremy Patrick Brockes FRS is a British biochemist who worked as an MRC Research Professor at University College London until 2016.

Early life and education

Brockes was born in Haslemere, Surrey. He attended Winchester College, and then earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Edinburgh, where he studied in the laboratory of the late Kenneth Murray and Noreen Murray. He did post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School with Zach Hall, and at University College London with Martin Raff.

Career

After completing post-doctoral studies, Brockes conducted research and teaching at California Institute of Technology, King's College London and University College London. He investigated cellular interactions in the mammalian peripheral nervous system, and the mechanisms underlying limb regeneration in salamanders. His work on the PNS yielded a method for purification and
culture of rodent Schwann cells. This led to the identification of Glial Growth Factor, an early member of the Neuregulin family of growth factors that are key regulators in tissues such as heart and brain, as well as the PNS.
His work on limb regeneration included studies on dedifferentiation, nerve dependence of regeneration, positional identity, senescent cells, and regeneration
as an evolutionary variable.
He plays chess as a FIDE and ECF-rated player.

Personal life

He is the uncle of award-winning journalist and author Emma Brockes.

Works

  • Brockes JP, Fields KL, Raff MC. A surface antigenic marker for rat Schwann cells. .
  • Lemke GE, Brockes JP. Identification and purification of glial growth factor.
  • Brockes JP, Kintner CR. Glial Growth Factor and nerve-dependent proliferation in the regeneration blastema of urodele amphibians.
  • Tanaka EM, Gann AA, Gates PB, Brockes JP. Newt myotubes re-enter the cell cycle by phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein. .
  • Morais da Silva S, Gates PB, Brockes JP. The newt ortholog of CD59 is implicated in proximodistal identity during amphibian limb regeneration.
  • Kanu N, Imokawa Y, Drechsel DN, Williamson RA, Birkett CR, Bostock CJ, Brockes JP.Transfer of scrapie prion infectivity by cell contact in culture.
  • Kumar A, Godwin JW, Gates PB, Garza-Garcia AA, Brockes JP. Molecular basis for the nerve dependence of limb regeneration in an adult vertebrate..
  • Yun MH, Davaapil H, Brockes JP. Recurrent turnover of senescent cells during regeneration of a complex structure.
  • Jeremy P. Brockes, Anoop Kumar, Cristiana P. Velloso, J Anat. 2001 Jul-Aug; 199: 3–11.
  • Neuroimmunology, Plenum Press, 1982,.

    Honours and Prizes

1985 Scientific Medal, Zoological Society of London.
1989 Elected to Membership of the European [Molecular Biology Organisation]
1989 Elected to Membership of the Academia Europaea
1994 Elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society
2008 Newcomb Cleveland Prize,
2022 Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award,