Azim Surani
{{short description|Kenyan-British developmental biologist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Azim Surani
| birth_name =
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|FRS|FMedSci}}
| birth_date = {{birth year and age |1945}}
| workplaces = University of Cambridge
| alma_mater = Plymouth University (BSc)
University of Strathclyde (MSc)
University of Cambridge (PhD)
| thesis_title = Modulation of Implanting Rat Blastocysts to Macromolecular Secretions of the Uterus
| thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.474243
| thesis_year = 1975
| doctoral_advisor = Robert Edwards
| doctoral_students = Kat Arney{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Epigenetic modification in the mouse zygote and regulation of imprinted genes|first= Katharine Luisa|last=Arney|date=2002|url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.620401|oclc=894595629}}
| notable_students = Anne Ferguson-Smith (postdoc){{Cite journal|last1=Ferguson-Smith|first1=A. C.|last2=Cattanach|first2=B. M.|last3=Barton|first3=S. C.|last4=Beechey|first4=C. V.|last5=Surani|first5=M. A.|year=1991|title=Embryological and molecular investigations of parental imprinting on mouse chromosome 7|journal=Nature|volume=351|issue=6328|pages=667–670|doi=10.1038/351667a0|issn=0028-0836|pmid=2052093|bibcode=1991Natur.351..667F |s2cid=4233463 }} {{closed access}}
| awards = Gabor Medal {{small|(2001)}}
Royal Medal {{small|(2010)}}
Mendel Lectures {{small|(2010)}}
Gairdner Foundation International Award {{small|(2018)}}
Mendel Medal {{small|(2022)}}
| website = {{URL|https://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/research/surani}}
}}
Azim Surani {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|FRS|FMedSci}} (born 1945 in Kisumu, Kenya) is a Kenyan-British developmental biologist who has been Marshall–Walton Professor at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge since 1992, and Director of Germline and Epigenomics Research since 2013.{{Scopus id}}{{cite web|url=https://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/research/surani|title=Azim Surani — The Gurdon Institute|website=Gurdon.cam.ac.uk|access-date=29 August 2017}}
Education
Surani was educated at Plymouth University (BSc),{{when|date=August 2017}} the University of Strathclyde (MSc){{cite web|first=Alan|last=McFarlane|year=2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306030252/http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/DO/filmshow/suranitx1.htm|archive-date=2016-03-06|url=http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/DO/filmshow/suranitx1.htm|website=alanmacfarlane.com|title=Azim Surani interviewed by Alan Macfarlane}} and the University of Cambridge (PhD) where his research was supervised by Robert Edwards, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117013606/https://royalsociety.org/people/azim-surani-12370/|archive-date=2015-11-17|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/azim-surani-12370/|website=royalsociety.org|title=Professor Azim Surani|publisher=Royal Society|location=London |year=1990}} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{quote|"All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." --{{Cite web |url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |title=Terms, conditions and policies | Royal Society |access-date=2017-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111170346/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |archive-date=2016-11-11 |url-status=bot: unknown }}}}{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Modulation of Implanting Rat Blastocysts to Macromolecular Secretions of the Uterus|first= M. A. H.|last=Surani|date=1975|url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.474243|website=ethos.bl.uk|oclc=500574338}}
Career and research
Surani co-discovered mammalian genomic imprinting with Davor Solter{{cite journal |author=Anne C. Ferguson-Smith |author2=Deborah Bourc'his |year=2018 |title=The discovery and importance of genomic imprinting |journal=eLife |volume=7 |page=e42368 |doi=10.7554/eLife.42368 |pmc=6197852 |pmid=30343680 |doi-access=free }} in 1984, and subsequently examined its mechanism and the functions of imprinted genes. He later established the genetic basis for germ cell specification, using a single-cell analysis in mice. This genetic network also initiates the unique resetting of the germline epigenome, including comprehensive erasure of DNA methylation towards re-establishing full genomic potency. Epigenetic modifications and re-establishments of imprints then generate functional differences between parental genomes whilst aberrant imprints contribute to human disease.
Surani's research is identifying key regulators of human germ line development and epigenome reprogramming, revealing differences between humans and mice attributable to their divergent pluripotent states and early postimplantation development. He is also investigating transposable elements, host defence mechanisms, noncoding RNAs, and the potential for transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in mammals.
Awards and honours
Surani has received several awards for his work including the Royal Medal (2010), the Gabor Medal (2001) and the Mendel Lectures (2010).{{cn|date=March 2019}} He received the Canada Gairdner International Award, with Davor Solter, "For the discovery of mammalian genomic imprinting that causes parent-of-origin specific gene expression and its consequences for development and disease."{{Cite news|url=http://gairdner.org/winners/current-winners/#Davor_Solter|title=Gairdner Awards 2018 Laureates {{!}} Gairdner Foundation|work=Gairdner Foundation|access-date=2018-09-21|language=en-US}} He won the Rosenstiel Award in 2006, with Solter and Mary Lyon, for "pioneering work on epigenetic gene regulation in mammalian embryos".{{cite web |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/rosenstiel/rosenstielaward/past.html |title=Past Winners |publisher=Brandeis University |access-date=25 March 2019 }}
External links
- [https://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1131031 Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 19 June 2009 (video)]
References
{{Reflist}}
{{FRS 1990}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surani, Azim}}
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society
Category:Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom)
Category:Fellows of King's College, Cambridge