Close
Professor Frances Brodsky
Professor of Cell Biology
Department of Structural and Molecular Biology
Division of Biosciences
University College London, London
Adjunct Professor
Departments of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and Microbiology & Immunology
The G.W. Hooper Foundation
University of California, San Francisco
Honorary Professor
Institute for Molecular Bioscience
University of Queensland, Brisbane
Frances Brodsky graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Biochemical Sciences in 1976, and earned her doctorate from Oxford University under a Marshall Scholarship in 1979. Brodsky's graduate work with immunologist Sir Walter Bodmer applied the then-novel technology of monoclonal antibodies to study human histocompatability molecules (HLA). Brodsky worked as a postdoctoral fellow, first with Jack Strominger at Harvard, and then with Peter Parham at Stanford University, initiating her research on clathrin biochemistry. Brodsky then joined Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems as a Programme Manager, where she ran her own lab for four years focussing on clathrin and intracellular membrane traffic in the immune response, which she continued as an Assistant Professor at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Brodsky was awarded tenure in 1994, and was a full professor at UCSF until 2014, when she joined University College London (UCL) as Director of the Division of Biosciences (2014-2020), where she continues to run her laboratory and teach. Prof. Brodsky has served as a member and chair of numerous boards, study sections, and advisory committees for organisations such as the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Human Frontiers Science Program, the Searle Scholars Program and the Pew Scholars Program. She is an elected fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (serving on council, 2018-2020 and as Interim Vice-President International, 2020-2021) and member of EMBO. In 2000, Brodsky co-founded the scientific journal Traffic, which specialises in intracellular transport, and served as an editor and on the board until 2020. Research in the Brodsky lab continues to focus on the biochemical and physiological functions of clathrin.
Education
| Stanford University, USA | 1980 - 82 | Postdoc | Structural Biology |
| Harvard University, USA | 1980 | Postdoc | Biochemistry |
| Oxford University, UK | 1979 | D Phil | Genetics |
| Harvard University, USA | 1976 | BA | Biochemistry |
Honours and Awards
| 2021 | Interim Vice-President International, Academy of Medical Sciences | |
| 2019 | Appointed member of the Governing Council of the Academy of Medical Sciences | |
| 2018 | Keynote speaker at conference on Molecular Evolution and the Cell - University of Utah | |
| 2017 | 15th Randall Lecturer, King's College London | |
| 2017 | Elected Member of EMBO | |
| 2017 | External Member, Francis Crick Institute, Cell Biology and Signalling Interest Group | |
| 2016 | Wellcome Trust Investigator | |
| 2015 | Elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, UK | |
| 2010 | Lord Harris Visiting Professorship, Harris Manchester College, Oxford | |
| 2007 | WICB Senior Career Recognition Award, American Society for Cancer Biology | |
| 2006 | Visiting Fellow, King's College, Cambridge | |
| 2006 | Margaret Pittman Lecturer, National Institutes of Health | |
| 2005 - present | Honorary Professor, Institute for Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland | |
| 2005 | Boehringer-Ingelheim Lecturer, McGill University | |
| 1988 - 1992 | Pew Scholar Award | |
| 1987 | Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Fund Research Starter Grant | |
| 1980 - 1982 | Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Fund, Postdoctoral Fellowship | |
| 1976 - 1979 | Marshall Scholarship for Study in the United Kingdom | |
| 1976 | Graduated Summa cum laude in Biochemical Sciences, Harvard | |
| 1975 | Dreyfus Fellowship (Summer Research), Phi Beta Kappa - Junior Year |
Review and Advisory Board Memberships
| 2018 - present | Jury member, Blavatnik Life Sciences Award |
| 2017 - 2023 | Member and Chair (2020-2023), Sectional Committee 2, Academy of Medical Sciences |
| 2017 | Chair, HCERES lab review panel, Institut Curie |
| 2014 - 2020 | Chair, Academic Oversight Committee, Institute of Zoology, ZSL |
| 2011 - 2017 | Member, National Advisory Board, Pew Scholars Program |
| 2013 - 2015 | Chair, MBPP Study Section, NIH |
| 2009 - 2015 | Member, MBPP Study Section, NIH |
| 2006 - 2010 | Member, Searle Scholars Advisory Board |
| 2002 - 2007 | Member, Vice-Chair and Chair, Human Frontiers Science Program Review Committee |
| 1999 - 2004 | Member, Board of Scientific Counsellors, NIAID |
| 1998 - 2003 | Member, Career Award Review Panel, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America |
| 1992 - 1997 | Member, ALY Study Section, NIH |
Editorial Board Memberships
| 2000 - 2020 | Editorial Board, Traffic (Founding co-editor 2000-2005, Reviews Editor 2005-2010) |
| 2011 - 2017 | Editorial Board, Frontiers in Life Sciences |
| 2008 - 2011 | Board of Management, HFSP Journal, now Frontiers in Life Sciences |
| 1984 - 1999 | Member, Editorial Board of Human Immunology |
| 1992 - 1997 | Editorial board, Journal of Clinical Investigation |
| 1991 - 1994 | Associate Editor, Journal of Immunology |
Positions
| 2014 - present | Professor of Cell Biology, UCL |
| 2014 - 2020 | Director, Division of Biosciences, UCL |
| 2015 - present | Adjunct Professor, UCSF |
| 1994 - 2015 | Professor, UCSF |
| 2005 - present | Honorary Professor, University of Queensland, Australia |
| 2000 - 2020 | Editorial Board, Traffic (Founding co-editor 2000-2005, Reviews Editor 2005-2010) |
| 1991 - 1994 | Associate Professor, UCSF |
| 1987 - 1991 | Assistant Professor, UCSF |
| 1982 - 1986 | Program Manager, Cell Biology, Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems |
| 1980 - 1982 | Postdoctoral Fellow under Dr. P. Parham, Stanford University |
| 1979 - 1980 | Postdoctoral Fellow under Dr. J.L. Strominger, Harvard University |
| 1976 - 1979 | Graduate Student under Dr. W.F. Bodmer, Oxford University |
Publications
Please follow this PubMed link for a complete list of Prof. Brodsky's publications.
Books
Novels for lay audience about bench science, writing as B.B. Jordan.
- Triplet Code (2001), Berkley Prime Crime ISBN-10: 0425179206; ISBN-13: 978-0425179208
- Secondary Immunization (1999), Berkley Prime Crime ISBN-10: 0425171183; ISBN-13: 978-0425171189
- Principal Investigation (1997), Berkley Prime Crime ISBN-10: 0425160904; ISBN-13: 978-0425160909
Tributes
- Brodsky, FM. Thomas E. Kreis 1952-1998 - Obituary. Trends Cell Biol. 8, 476 (1998).
- Traub, LM & Brodsky, FM. Ernst Joachim Ungewickell 1950-2020. J Cell Biol. Nov 2;219(11):e202009044. doi: 10.1083/jcb.202009044. (2020).
- Brodsky, FM & Parham, P. In memoriam: Peter Hartmann (1946-2020), publisher, colleague and friend. Traffic. 2020 Sep 27. doi: 10.1111/tra.12767. (2020).
