Iain Mattaj

Iain William Mattaj (born 5 October 1952 in St Andrews, Scotland)[1] FRS[5] FRSE[3] is a British scientist and Honorary Professor at Heidelberg University in Germany. In 2018, he stepped down from Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), a position he has held since 2005.[6] He is currently the Director of the Human Technopole (Milano, Italy).[7]

Iain Mattaj

FRS FRSE
Mattaj in 2010
Born (1952-10-05) 5 October 1952[1]
St Andrews, Scotland
Alma mater
AwardsLouis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (2001)[2]
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
InstitutionsEuropean Molecular Biology Laboratory
ThesisStudies on cloned GDH genes (1980)
Doctoral advisorJohn Wooton[3]
Notable studentsElisa Izaurralde, postdoctoral researcher (1990-1996)$
InfluencesLennart Philipson[4]
Websitewww.embl.de/aboutus/general_information/leadership/dg/

Education

Mattaj was educated at the University of Edinburgh (BSc) and the University of Leeds[1] where he was awarded a PhD in 1980 for research on cloned Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) genes supervised by John Wooton. Iain was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Sciences from the University of Leeds in 2018.[3]

Research

Mattaj has made a number of important contributions to our knowledge concerning how RNA and proteins are transported between the cell nucleus and cytoplasm. These findings stemmed from his early work on the import and export of ribonucleoproteins particles — RNA–protein complexes — at the cell nucleus.[5]

Iain subsequently uncovered the role of enzymes known as GTPases in the regulation of mitosis — the division of the cell nucleus into two daughter nuclei. Under the influence of Ran, a GTPase signalling protein, the cell cytoskeleton remodels to form the mitotic spindle — a crucial structure in mitosis. By dissecting Ran's role in facilitating mitosis, Iain is enabling researchers to create improved cell-regeneration therapies.[5][8][9]

He serves on the Advisory Editorial Board of The EMBO Journal.[5]

Awards and honours

Mattaj was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1999[5] and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

gollark: *languages allowing correct, reliable programs are good
gollark: ```The loneliest is a.(Abs function)(returns the absolute value of 'a thought')Abs takes a thoughtIf a thought is greater than nothingGive back a thoughtElseGive back nothing without a thought(end Abs function)(Pow function)(returns 'all' raised to 'your base')Pow takes all and your baseIf your base is emptyGive back the loneliest (end if)If your base is less than nothingPut nothing without your base into your baseGive back the loneliest over Pow taking all, your base (end if)Put the loneliest into the onePut all into the magicWhile the one is smaller than your basePut all of the magic into the magicBuild the one up (end while)Give back the magic(end Pow function)(some constants for Sqrt function)The wing is strange.My song is knickknack. lumberjacksPut Pow taking my song, the wing into the dawnHalf is flummoxing. huzza(Sqrt function)(iterates until the estimate update is less than 'the dawn')Sqrt takes a mountainIf a mountain is nowhereGive back nothing (end if)Put a mountain into a molehillPut a molehill into the seaWhile Abs taking the sea is greater than the dawnPut a molehill into the seaPut Half of a molehill with Half of a mountain over a molehill into a molehillPut the sea without a molehill into the sea (end while)Give back a molehill(end Sqrt function)```A simple maths library.
gollark: https://github.com/dylanbeattie/rockstar
gollark: ```Midnight takes your heart and your soulWhile your heart is as high as your soulPut your heart without your soul into your heartGive back your heartDesire is a lovestruck ladykillerMy world is nothing Fire is iceHate is waterUntil my world is Desire,Build my world upIf Midnight taking my world, Fire is nothing and Midnight taking my world, Hate is nothingShout "FizzBuzz!"Take it to the topIf Midnight taking my world, Fire is nothingShout "Fizz!"Take it to the topIf Midnight taking my world, Hate is nothingSay "Buzz!"Take it to the topWhisper my world```A fizzbuzz program.
gollark: !>!

References
  1. "MATTAJ, Iain William". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. 2016 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription or UK public library membership required) (subscription required)
  2. Louis-Jeantet Prize
  3. "Curriculum Vitae Professor Dr. Iain W. Mattaj" (PDF). leopoldina.org. Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2016.
  4. Simons, K.; Mattaj, I. W. (2011). "Lennart Philipson (1929-2011)". Science. 333 (6043): 711. Bibcode:2011Sci...333..711S. doi:10.1126/science.1210990. PMID 21817041.
  5. Anon (1999). "Professor Iain Mattaj FRS". royalsociety.org. London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
    “All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” --"Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  6. "EMBL Leadership: Director General". embl.de. Heidelberg: European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Archived from the original on 15 June 2016.
  7. "News Viewer - HumanTechnopole". www.htechnopole.it. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  8. Fornerod, Maarten; Ohno, Mutsuhito; Yoshida, Minoru; Mattaj, Iain W. (1997). "CRM1 Is an Export Receptor for Leucine-Rich Nuclear Export Signals". Cell. 90 (6): 1051–1060. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80371-2. PMID 9323133.
  9. Mattaj, Iain W.; Englmeier, Ludwig (1998). "NUCLEOCYTOPLASMIC TRANSPORT: The Soluble Phase". Annual Review of Biochemistry. 67 (1): 265–306. doi:10.1146/annurev.biochem.67.1.265. PMID 9759490.


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