Jane Mellanby

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jane Mellanby
Born14 April 1938
Sheffield, England
Died8 February 2021(2021-02-08) (aged 82)
Occupation(s)Neuroscientist, academic
Children4, including Edward Impey
ParentKenneth Mellanby
RelativesEdward Mellanby (uncle)

Jane H. F. Mellanby (14 April 1938 – 8 February 2021) was a British neuroscientist and academic. She was a doctoral student of biochemist Hans Krebs, and was a fellow at St. Hilda's College, Oxford from 1971 to 2006.

Early life[edit]

Mellanby was born in Sheffield, the daughter of entomologist Kenneth Mellanby and Canadian-born biomedical researcher Agnes Helen Nielson Dow Mellanby.[1][2][3] Her uncle was biochemist Edward Mellanby.[4] She read botany, physiology and chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford. In 1962, she completed doctoral studies in biochemistry at Oxford with Hans Krebs as her advisor.[5]

Career[edit]

Mellanby worked on tetanospasmin and botulinum toxins as a postdoctoral research associate at Sir William Dunn School of Pathology. In 1970, she and Larry Weiskrantz founded the Neurochemistry unit in Oxford's Experimental Psychology department. She was a Fellow at St. Hilda's College, Oxford from 1971. From 1977 to 2006, she was an Official Fellow in Experimental Psychology at St. Hilda's; she was also vice-principal of the college, from 1990 to 1996. In 2016, she was elected an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.[6]

Mellanby's research included a focus on temporal lobe epilepsy. She took a particular interest in secondary education and served as a governor of a local comprehensive school. She helped to develop the VESPARCH test for evaluating verbal and spatial reasoning skills in students, as director of the Oxford Group For Children's Potential.[7][8] She also studied gender differences in undergraduate science education.[9][10] Her research appeared in academic journals including Nature,[11] Neuroscience,[12] Journal of Physiology,[13] Journal of Psychopharmacology,[10] British Journal of Psychology,[10] Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education,[14] Higher Education,[15] Biochemical Journal,[16] and Medical Teacher.[17]

Publications[edit]

  • "Enzymic determination of d(−)-β-hydroxybutyric acid and acetoacetic acid in blood" (1962, with Dermot H. Williamson and Hans A. Krebs)[16]
  • "The equilibrium constant of the β-hydroxybutyric-dehydrogenase system" (1962, with Dermot H. Williamson and Hans A. Krebs)[18]
  • "Specific Precocious Protective Action of Toxoids" (1964, with W. E. van Heyningen)[11]
  • "The effect of tetanus toxin in the goldfish" (1971, with J. Diamond)[19]
  • "The effect of tetanus toxin at the neuromuscular junction in the goldfish" (1972, with P. A. Thompson)[13]
  • "A note on the specific fixation, specific deactivation and non-specific inactivation of bacterial toxins by gangliosides" (1973, with W. E. van Heyningen)[20]
  • "D-(–)-3-Hydroxybutyrate" (1974, with Dermot H. Williamson)[21]
  • "How does tetanus toxin act?" (1981, with Jane Green)[12]
  • "The effect of Ro 15-4513, an inverse agonist at the benzodiazepine receptor, on the exploratory response to novelty in the playground maze" (1994, with Briony Nicholls and Stephen Smith)[22]
  • "The 'gender gap' in final examination results at Oxford University" (2000, with Maryanne Martin and John O'Doherty)[10]
  • "Attitudes to e-learning, learning style and achievement in learning neuroanatomy by medical students" (2008, with Elena Svirko)[17]
  • "Deep learning questions can help selection of high ability candidates for universities" (2009, with Mario Cortino-Borja and John Stein)[23]
  • "Verbal and Spatial Analogical Reasoning in Deaf and Hearing Children: The Role of Grammar and Vocabulary" (2011, with Lindsey Edwards, Berta Figueras, and Dawn Langdon)[14]
  • "Trait anxiety and final degree performance at the University of Oxford" (2011, with Anna Zimdars)[15]
  • Education and Learning: An Evidence–based Approach (2014, with Katy Theobald)[24]
  • "Teaching neuroanatomy using computer-aided learning: What makes for successful outcomes?" (2017, with Elena Svirko)[25]

Personal life[edit]

Mellanby married zoologist and curator Oliver R. Impey in 1961. They had four children, including Edward Impey. She was widowed when Impey died in 2005;[26] she died from cancer in 2021, aged 82 years.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Perring, Franklyn (11 January 1994). "Obituary: Kenneth Mellanby". The Independent. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  2. ^ Mellanby, Helen (6 December 2012). Animal Life in Fresh Water: A Guide to Fresh-Water Invertebrates. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-94-009-5849-4.
  3. ^ Mellanby, Jane (2002). "Agnes Helen Neilson Mellanby". BMJ: British Medical Journal. 325 (7367): 780. doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7367.780. ISSN 0959-8138. JSTOR 25452530. PMC 1124292. S2CID 72150556.
  4. ^ a b "Professor Jane Mellanby obituary". The Times. 2 April 2021. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  5. ^ Oates, Tim (9 March 2021). "Professor Jane Mellanby 1938 - 2021". Cambridge Assessment. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Our Emeritus Fellow Dr Jane Mellanby, Hon FRCP, has died". St Hilda's College Oxford. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  7. ^ McIntyre, Dan (25 August 2020). History of English: A Resource Book for Students. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-29840-6.
  8. ^ “Academic Calls for More Complex Grammar on the Curriculum.” Education Journal, no. 376 (May 28, 2019): 11.
  9. ^ "Jane Mellanby". Oxford Neuroscience. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d Mellanby, Jane; Martin, Maryanne; O'Doherty, John (August 2000). "The 'gender gap' in final examination results at Oxford University". British Journal of Psychology. 91 (3): 377–390. doi:10.1348/000712600161880. PMID 10958580.
  11. ^ a b Mellanby, Jane; Van Heyningen, W. E. (July 1964). "Specific Precocious Protective Action of Toxoids". Nature. 203 (4942): 312–313. Bibcode:1964Natur.203..312M. doi:10.1038/203312b0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 14201781. S2CID 4263260.
  12. ^ a b Mellanby, Jane; Green, Jane (1 March 1981). "How does tetanus toxin act?". Neuroscience. 6 (3): 281–300. doi:10.1016/0306-4522(81)90123-8. ISSN 0306-4522. PMID 6164010. S2CID 40189011.
  13. ^ a b Mellanby, Jane; Thompson, P. A. (1972). "The effect of tetanus toxin at the neuromuscular junction in the goldfish". The Journal of Physiology. 224 (2): 407–419. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1972.sp009902. ISSN 1469-7793. PMC 1331497. PMID 4341938.
  14. ^ a b Edwards, Lindsey; Figueras, Berta; Mellanby, Jane; Langdon, Dawn (1 March 2011). "Verbal and Spatial Analogical Reasoning in Deaf and Hearing Children: The Role of Grammar and Vocabulary". The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. 16 (2): 189–197. doi:10.1093/deafed/enq051. ISSN 1081-4159. PMID 21068179.
  15. ^ a b Mellanby, Jane; Zimdars, Anna (1 April 2011). "Trait anxiety and final degree performance at the University of Oxford". Higher Education. 61 (4): 357–370. doi:10.1007/s10734-010-9335-5. ISSN 1573-174X. S2CID 55091360.
  16. ^ a b Williamson, DH; Mellanby, Jane; Krebs, Hans A (1 January 1962). "Enzymic determination of d(−)-β-hydroxybutyric acid and acetoacetic acid in blood". Biochemical Journal. 82 (1): 90–96. doi:10.1042/bj0820090. ISSN 0006-2936. PMC 1243411. PMID 14007241.
  17. ^ a b Svirko, Elena; Mellanby, Jane (1 January 2008). "Attitudes to e-learning, learning style and achievement in learning neuroanatomy by medical students". Medical Teacher. 30 (9–10): e219–e227. doi:10.1080/01421590802334275. hdl:10818/34451. ISSN 0142-159X. PMID 19117218. S2CID 29322273.
  18. ^ Krebs, HA; Mellanby, J; Williamson, DH (1 January 1962). "The equilibrium constant of the β-hydroxybutyric-dehydrogenase system". Biochemical Journal. 82 (1): 96–98. doi:10.1042/bj0820096. ISSN 0006-2936. PMC 1243412. PMID 14459507.
  19. ^ Diamond, J.; Mellanby, Jane (1971). "The effect of tetanus toxin in the goldfish". The Journal of Physiology. 215 (3): 727–741. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009494. ISSN 1469-7793. PMC 1331910. PMID 4326308.
  20. ^ van Heyningen, W. E.; Mellanby, Jane (1 September 1973). "A note on the specific fixation, specific deactivation and non-specific inactivation of bacterial toxins by gangliosides". Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology. 276 (3): 297–302. doi:10.1007/BF00499883. ISSN 1432-1912. PMID 4351284. S2CID 20359190.
  21. ^ Williamson, Dermot H.; Mellanby, Jane (1 January 1974), Bergmeyer, Hans Ulrich (ed.), "D-(–)-3-Hydroxybutyrate", Methods of Enzymatic Analysis (Second Edition), Academic Press, pp. 1836–1839, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-091304-6.50037-9, ISBN 978-0-12-091304-6, retrieved 8 December 2021
  22. ^ Nicholls, Briony; Mellanby, Jane; Smith, Stephen (1 January 1994). "The effect of Ro 15-4513, an inverse agonist at the benzodiazepine receptor, on the exploratory response to novelty in the playground maze". Journal of Psychopharmacology. 8 (1): 32–39. doi:10.1177/026988119400800106. ISSN 0269-8811. PMID 22298478. S2CID 29600493.
  23. ^ Mellanby, Jane; Cortina-Borja, Mario; Stein, John (1 May 2009). "Deep learning questions can help selection of high ability candidates for universities". Higher Education. 57 (5): 597–608. doi:10.1007/s10734-008-9164-y. ISSN 1573-174X. S2CID 143958019.
  24. ^ Mellanby, Jane (2014). Education and learning : an evidence-based approach. Katy Theobald (1 ed.). Chichester, West Sussex. ISBN 978-1-118-72808-6. OCLC 871820895.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  25. ^ Svirko, Elena; Mellanby, Jane (November 2017). "Teaching neuroanatomy using computer-aided learning: What makes for successful outcomes?: Computer-Aided Teaching of Neuroanatomy". Anatomical Sciences Education. 10 (6): 560–569. doi:10.1002/ase.1694. PMID 28431201. S2CID 23207484.
  26. ^ "Oliver Impey". The Telegraph. 31 October 2005. Retrieved 8 December 2021.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jane_Mellanby&oldid=1179464180"