Julian Lewis (biologist)

Julian Lewis
in 2008
Born(1946-08-12)12 August 1946
Died30 April 2014(2014-04-30) (aged 67)
Alma materBalliol College
University of Oxford[1]
Known for
Scientific career
InstitutionsCancer Research UK

Julian Hart Lewis FRS[2] (12 August 1946 – 30 April 2014) was an English developmental biologist and researcher whose work shed light on the nature of cellular timing mechanisms and their role in animal development. He showed that the Notch ligand (a molecule involved in cell-to-cell communication) controls the timing of nerve cell differentiation and the synchronised cycling of neighbouring cell activity. He modelled the cellular oscillatory circuit that determines the segmentation of the developing body, and clarified the importance of delay kinetics in setting the frequency of those oscillations.[3][4][5]

He was an undergraduate at Balliol College, Oxford, from 1964. He was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2005. The British Society for Developmental Biology awarded him the Waddington Medal in 2003. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2012.

As well as leading a research team at Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute,[6] he was co-author of Molecular Biology of The Cell, Alberts et al.,[7] and Essential Cell Biology, Alberts et al., popular biology textbooks.

He died in April 2014 after living with prostate cancer for a decade.[8]

  1. ^ "Latest news for Alumni and Friends". Balliol College. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  2. ^ Martin, Paul; Ish-Horowicz, David (2024). "Julian Hart Lewis. 12 August 1946 — 30 April 2014". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 77.
  3. ^ "Dr Julian Hart Lewis FRS". Royal Society. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Notices 2014". Royal Society. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  5. ^ Julian Hart Lewis (2012). New Fellows Seminar presentation: Clockwork in the embryo (mp3 audio recording. 17 minutes). Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  6. ^ Staff Writer. "Julian Lewis (1946-2014)". London Research Institute website. London Research Institute. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  7. ^ Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, Raff M, Roberts K, Walter P (2014). Molecular Biology of the Cell (6th ed.). Garland. ISBN 9780815344322.
  8. ^ Hazell, Sarah (2 May 2014). "A tribute to Professor Julian Lewis". Cancer Research UK blog. Cancer Research UK. Retrieved 6 May 2014.