Congratulations to Thomas Surrey, a group leader at the Crick,
who has been awarded the Hooke Medal by the British Society for
Cell Biology (BSCB).
The Hooke Medal is awarded every year by the BSCB and recognises
an emerging leader in cell biology. The award
is named after Robert Hooke, the eminent 17th century natural
philosopher and author of Micrographia (the world's first
comprehensive illustrated book on microscopy) and is given to
an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to UK Cell
Biology.
The BSCB awarded Thomas the Hooke Medal in recognition of the
important contributions he has made to our understanding of dynamic
microtubule cytoskeleton function. The cytoskeleton is essential
for the internal organisation of eukaryotic cells, which partition
off different functions to various locations in the cell. This
means cells can accomplish a wide range of functions within a small
package.
Most recently, Thomas and his team have made major progress in
understanding the molecular mechanisms of proteins binding to
microtubule ends, thereby controlling microtubule dynamics and
nucleation.
Richard Treisman, Research Director at the Crick said: "It is
fitting that Thomas has been awarded the Hooke medal: as a 21st
century biochemist, his outstanding contribution to our
understanding of the structure and dynamics of microtubules has
depended heavily on the creative use of advanced microscopy, an
approach which would be dear to Hooke's heart."
Thomas received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of
Tübingen in Germany. He then spent 3 years at Princeton University,
USA, as a postdoc, before he moved to the European Molecular
Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany.
He started his lab at EMBL in 2002. In 2011 he moved his lab to
the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, which became part
of the Crick in 2015.