Professor Dame Athene Donald
Director of Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative (WiSETI)
Fellow of Robinson College
DBE, FRS
Group: Biological and Soft Systems
Address:
Room 243 Bragg Building,
Cavendish Laboratory,
JJ Thomson Avenue,
Cambridge CB3 0HE.
Tel: +44 (0)1223 337382
Email: amd3 "at" cam.ac.uk
Group Secretary / Administrator:
Tracy Inman
Tel: +44 (0)1223 337007
Fax: +44 (0)1223 337000
Email: admin "at" bss.cam.ac.uk
Personal Assistant:
Sarah Adderley
Tel: +44 (0)1223 337423
Fax: +44 (0)1223 337000
Email: sa496 "at" cam.ac.uk
Biography:
I have been at the Cavendish since 1983, where I became a professor in 1998.
Research Interests:
My activity sits within the sector of Biological and Soft Systems, and focusses on using the ideas of soft matter physics to study a wide range of systems of both synthetic and biological origin. There is an emphasis on using different types of microscopy, and in particular environmental scanning electron microscopy, but these are by no means the only approaches used. We have recently been developing passive microrheological techniques for the study of heterogeneous and oriented systems (clay gels and sheared DNA respectively), we are exploring the potential of a quartz crystal microbalance to study cell adhesion and the effect of surface patterns on this, and we have a substantial effort directed at protein aggregation at intermediate lengthscales, predominantly using model protein systems including beta lactoglobulin and insulin. The unifying theme is understanding structure-function-processing relationships. My group comes from a diverse range of backgrounds, as does my funding.
Research Group - Biological and Soft Systems, Physics of Medicine.
Selected Publications: