Rose Lecture Series: How a century of X-ray crystallography has changed the world

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Time: 12.00pm - 2.00pm
Venue: MB0002, Roehampton Vale campus, Friars Avenue, London SW15 3DW
Price: free
Speaker(s): Professor Elspeth F Garman

Join us on 24th June to hear Professor Elspeth F Garman from the Department of Biochemistry, Oxford University describe how X-ray crystallography is used to determine molecular structures, helping us to understand disease and develop drugs to control it.

Prof Garman will cover how the Braggs, father and son, were pioneers of a new area of science when, 101 years ago this year, they discovered the three dimensional arrangement of atoms in table salt (sodium chloride). They did this by irradiating salt crystals with a beam of X-rays and interpreting the pattern of X-ray scattering they detected.

She will discuss how their legacy lives on – as their crystallographic methods are at the forefront of modern drug discovery – and how through a now well defined pipeline, the 3-dimensional shapes of important biological molecules can be found, helping us to understand disease pathways. Thanks to the molecular understanding of diseases, viruses and bacteria we can develop ways of blocking their action with small molecule drugs such as the anti-flu drug Relenza.

Prof. Elspeth Garman is Professor of Molecular Biophysics at the University of Oxford. She initially studied Physics at Durham University before her doctorate in Nuclear Physics at Oxford. She has served as the President of the British Crystallographic Association and is a leading figure internationally.

She has published over a hundred original research articles on crystallography and has delivered many prestigious public lectures including the Dorothy Hodgkin Lecture in 2010. She is also involved with various outreach activities.

For further information about this event:

Contact: Wendy Sayers
Email: W.Sayers@kingston.ac.uk