Person Johnson; Dame; Louise Napier (1940 - 2012); biophysicist and structural biologist Johnson Louise Napier Dame biophysicist and structural biologist 1940 - 2012 British Female South Bank Nursing Home, Bath Road, Worcester, Worcestershire, England 26 September 1940 19400926 Cambridge, England 25 September 2012 20120925

White Cottage, Rushwick, near Worcester, Worcestershire, England (1940)

biophysicist and structural biologist Structural biology Biochemistry Biophysics Molecular biophysics Education: Putney High School; School in Aberdeen, Scotland; Wimbledon High School for Girls, London; University College, London BSc 1959-1962; PhD 1965 Career: Post-doctoral research assistant at Yale University (1966); returned to England to work at the newly formed laboratory of molecular biophysics, Zoology Department, Oxford University (1967); departmental demonstrator, Somerville College, Oxford (1967–73); university lecturer and additional fellow of Somerville College (1973); gained readership (1990); head of the laboratory of molecular biophysics, Oxford, became the David Phillips professor of molecular biophysics, and a professorial fellow of Corpus Christi College (1990-2007); science director for life sciences at Diamond Light Source, the UK's synchrotron X-ray source in Oxfordshire (2003); David Phillips Professor of Molecular Biophysics, University of Oxford Honours: DBE 2003 Awards/Medals: Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford Hon DSc University of St Andrews 1992 Associate Fellow of the Third World Academy of Science 2000 Hon DSc University of Bath 2004 Hon DSc Imperial College London 2009 Hon DSc University of Cambridge 2010 Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, 2011 Parents: George Edmund Johnson (1904–1992), former wool broker then serving in the RAF and Elizabeth Minna, née King (1914–1992). Spouse: Muhammad Abdus Salam (1926–1996) (FRS 1959), theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate. Children: Umar (b. 1974), and a daughter, Sayyeda (b. 1982). Distinguished for her contributions to protein crystallography and to the understanding of enzyme structure and activity. The first to study complexes between an enzyme (lysozyme) and competitive inhibitors in detail crystallographically. Her results provided the basis for the first model of an enzyme-substrate complex and the first formulation of a stereochemical mechanism of enzyme catalysis. Subsequently she solved the structure of the very-large enzyme glycogen phosphorylase and determined the binding sires of its substrate and allosteric effectors. Her results have provided the basis for stereochemical interpretations of the control of the enzyme's activity by allosteric effectors and by reversible phosphorylation. She and her colleagues were instrumental in developing techniques for data collection from protein crystals by means of synchrotron radiation. Fellow 15/03/1990 49 References: L N Johnson FRS (and M Vijayan), 'Gopalasamudram Narayana Ramachandran', Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 2005 vol 51 pp 367-379 Anne Purkiss 'Scientists 1985 - 2010; Portraits of Fellows of the Royal Society' 2010, p.27 International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Johnson%2C+Louise+Napier https://pictures.royalsociety.org/results?mi_search_type=adv&mi_adv_search=yes&adv_person_id=AUTH4618 26 Sep 1940 - 25 Sep 2012 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 05/03/2025 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA4932 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 05/03/2025 RS_NET\VidaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/27279641 b0c9a8f3-278e-4514-ac95-3c129b4d5e2a