Julie Forman-Kay FRSC FRS is a scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and professor at University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the dynamics, interactions, structures, and functions of intrinsically disordered proteins.

Julie Forman-Kay
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Yale University
Known forIntrinsically disordered proteins
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Toronto
Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto)

Early life and career edit

Forman-Kay obtained a degree in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985.[1] She carried out her graduate studies at Yale University in the laboratory of Fred M. Richards.[2] She also worked at the National Institutes of Health in the lab of Angela Gronenborn and Marius Clore.

Forman-Kay joined the Hospital for Sick Children in 1992, where she is currently a Program Head and Senior Scientist and Senior Scientist in the Molecular Medicine program. Furthermore she is also the Co-Director of the Structural & Biophysical Core Facility.[3] Forman-Kay is also currently a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, at University of Toronto.[4]

Research edit

Forman-Kay's research focuses on structural, functional, and bioinformatic studies of intrinsically disordered proteins using a combination of computational and experimental approaches.[2][5] Her research has characterised the dynamic complexes of many disordered proteins and their ability to undergo liquid-liquid phase separation.[3] Forman-Kay has developed a software tool called ENSEMBLE which uses experimental data from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy and Small-angle X-ray scattering to predict the conformations that represent the structural ensembles of disordered proteins.[1]

Awards edit

In 2016, Forman-Kay was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2016.[6][7]

In 2021, Forman-Kay was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.[8]

Personal life edit

Forman-Kay is married to biochemist Lewis Kay[1] and has two children.[2] Forman-Kay is also a violinist and plays classical chamber music.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "SBGrid Consortium - Member Tale - Julie Forman-Kay - The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto". sbgrid.org. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  2. ^ a b c d Casadio, Melina; Jordan, Shawn (2016-09-12). "Julie Forman-Kay: Dynamic views on protein structure". Journal of Cell Biology. 214 (6): 638–639. doi:10.1083/jcb.2146pi. ISSN 0021-9525. PMC 5021103.
  3. ^ a b "SickKids scientist Julie Forman-Kay named Fellow of the Royal Society for disordered protein research". SickKids. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  4. ^ "Twelve new U of T fellows join Royal Society of Canada". University of Toronto News. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  5. ^ Arnaud, Celia Henry (December 23, 2014). "Phosphorylation Pushes Floppy Protein To Fold". Chemical and Engineering News.
  6. ^ Government of Canada, Industry Canada (2012-11-29). "Canada Research Chairs". www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  7. ^ "Eight U of T science faculty join Royal Society of Canada as fellows". The Varsity. 2016-09-26. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  8. ^ "Royal Society elects outstanding new Fellows and Foreign Members | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2021-05-07.