View source for Caroline Dean

{{short description|British botanist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix = [[Dame]]
| name = Caroline Dean
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|DBE|FRS|size=100}}
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = 
| image = Caroline Dean journal pgen 1003593 g001.png
| image_size = 
| alt = 
| caption = 
| birth_name = Caroline Dean
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1957|4|2}}<ref name="whoswho">{{Who's Who | title=Dean, Dame Caroline | id = U10000433 | year = 2015 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U10000433|author=Anon}}</ref>
| birth_place = 
| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) -->
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| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} -->
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| citizenship = 
| nationality = 
| fields = {{Plainlist|
* [[Botany|Plant Sciences]]
* [[Molecular biology]]
* [[Epigenetics]]<ref name=gs>{{Google scholar id}}</ref>}}
| workplaces = {{Plainlist|
* [[John Innes Centre]]
* [[University of York]]}}
| alma_mater = [[University of York]] (BA, DPhil)<ref name="deanphd">{{cite thesis |degree=DPhil |first=Caroline|last=Dean |title=Investigations of genome expression in young wheat leaves |publisher=University of York |date=1983|oclc=500010022 |id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.331606}}|author-link=Caroline Dean|url=https://yorsearch.york.ac.uk/permalink/44YORK_INST/f9td5a/alma9952925140001381|website=york.ac.uk}}</ref>
| thesis_title = Investigations of genome expression in young wheat leaves
| thesis_url = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/500010022
| thesis_year = 1983
| doctoral_advisor = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students = 
| known_for = {{Plainlist|
* Work on the molecular control of [[flower]]ing<ref name=pga>{{Cite Q|Q34476485 }}</ref> and [[vernalization]]<ref name="vern"/> in ''[[Arabidopsis thaliana]]''}}
| influences = 
| influenced = 
| awards = {{Plainlist|
* [[Wolf Prize in Agriculture]] (2020)
* [[L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards]] (2018)
* [[Darwin Medal]] (2016)
* [[Member of the National Academy of Sciences|Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences]] (2001)<ref name="nas">{{cite web |url=http://www.jic.ac.uk/corporate/media-and-public/current-releases/080501CarolineDean.htm |title=John Innes Centre scientist receives top international honour |date=2008 |publisher=John Innes Centre |archive-date=15 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815013946/http://www.jic.ac.uk/corporate/media-and-public/current-releases/080501CarolineDean.htm}}</ref>
* [[EMBO Membership]] (1999)}}
| signature = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature_alt = 
| website = {{Official URL}}
| footnotes = 
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Jonathan D. G. Jones|Jonathan Jones]]|1991}}<ref name="whoswho"/>
| children = one son, one daughter<ref name="whoswho"/><ref name=genomebiology>{{Cite journal
 | pmid = 22405408
| pmc = 3439960
| year = 2012
| last1 = Dean
| first1 = Caroline
| author-link1 = Caroline Dean
| title = Women in science
| journal = Genome Biology
| volume = 13
| issue = 3
| pages = 148
| last2 = Osborn
| first2 = Mary
| author-link2 = Mary Osborn
| last3 = Oshlack
| first3 = Alicia
| author-link3 = Alicia Oshlack
| last4 = Thornton
| first4 = Janet
| author-link4 = Janet Thornton
| doi = 10.1186/gb4005
| doi-access = free
}}</ref>
}}
'''Dame Caroline Dean''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|DBE|FRS}}<ref name=royal>{{cite web |url=https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC%2F2004%2F15%27) |title=EC/2004/15: Dean, Caroline |publisher=The Royal Society |archive-date=10 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710033835/https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=%28RefNo%3D%3D%27EC%2F2004%2F15%27%29 |location=London |url-status=dead  }}</ref> (born 2 April 1957) is a British [[Botany|plant scientist]] working at the [[John Innes Centre]].  She is focused on understanding the molecular controls used by plants to seasonally judge when to flower.<ref name=gs/> She is specifically interested in vernalisation — the acceleration of [[Flower|flowering]] in plants by exposure to periods of prolonged cold.<ref name=pgen>{{cite Q|Q21144889|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=transgenic>{{cite Q|Q29036832}}</ref><ref name="rosetta">{{Cite Q|Q33337109}}</ref><ref name="scopus">{{Scopus id}}</ref><ref name=trap>{{Cite Q|Q34300850
}}</ref><ref name=frigida>{{Cite Q|Q33921320 }}</ref><ref name=recomb>{{Cite Q|Q56774614 }}</ref> She has also served on the Life Sciences jury for the [[Infosys Prize]] from 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Infosys Prize – Jury 2020|url=http://www.infosys-science-foundation.com/prize/jury/jury-2020.asp|access-date=10 December 2020|website=www.infosys-science-foundation.com}}</ref>

==Education==
Dean was educated at the [[University of York]], where she was awarded a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in [[Biology]] in 1978 and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] in Biology<ref name="deanphd"/> in 1982.<ref name="vern">{{cite Q|Q34288707 }}</ref><ref name="jicprofile">{{cite web|url=http://www.jic.ac.uk/profile/caroline-dean.asp |title=Caroline Dean, Cell & Developmental Biology |archive-date=16 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616011944/http://www.jic.ac.uk/profile/caroline-dean.asp |url-status=dead |date=23 November 2018 }}</ref>

==Research and career==
Dean's research has been funded by the [[Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council]] (BBSRC)<ref name="bbsrc">{{cite web |url=http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/person/F2DDB4A0-400A-4441-88F3-5C9389AF6784 |archive-url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130705133243mp_/http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/person/F2DDB4A0%2D400A%2D4441%2D88F3%2D5C9389AF6784 |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 July 2013 |title=UK Government Grants awarded to Caroline Dean }}, via [[Research Councils UK]]</ref> [[European Research Council]] (ERC), EU-Marie Curie and [[European Molecular Biology Organization|EMBO]] and focuses on  research on [[gene regulation]] and the intersection of [[chromatin]], transcription and [[Non-coding RNA|non-coding RNA]]s. Her goal is to understand the chromatin dynamics that enable switching between [[epigenetic]] states and quantitative regulation of gene expression. This mechanistic analysis is focused on one gene encoding the floral repressor [[Flowering Locus C]]: ''FLC''. Epigenetic switching and quantitative regulation of ''FLC'' play a central role in seasonal timing in plants.  This acceleration of flowering by prolonged cold is a classic epigenetic process called [[Vernalization|vernalisation.]]

''FLC'' regulation involves an antisense-mediated chromatin mechanism that coordinately influences transcription initiation and elongation. As plants [[Overwintering|overwinter]], ''FLC'' expression is then epigenetically silenced through a cold-induced, cis-based, [[Polycomb-group proteins|polycomb switching mechanism]]. The group are mechanistically dissecting these conserved chromatin mechanisms and investigating how they have been modulated during adaptation.

She uses ''[[Arabidopsis]]'' as a reference to establish the regulatory hierarchy and then use this information to translate into other species. She was a pioneer in ''Arabidopsis'' becoming a key model organism in plant science.<ref name=anint>{{Cite Q|Q47985864}}</ref>

===Awards and honours===
Her nomination for the Royal Society reads: {{centered pull quote|Dean has made outstanding contributions in the study of developmental timing in plants. Her work has revealed the mechanism by which plants remember they have experienced winter, demonstrated novel [[RNA]] processing mechanisms controlling flowering and determined the molecular basis of natural variation in Arabidopsis flowering time. Her discoveries have broad significance in the fields of [[epigenetics]], post-transcriptional regulation and [[molecular evolution]]. Dean has also made a massive contribution to the development of Arabidopsis as a model, establishing resources for genetic mapping and insertional mutagenesis, and providing physical maps that underpinned the sequencing of the genome.<ref name=royal/>}} Other awards include:

* 1993 – 2002  Honorary Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, [[University of East Anglia]]  
* 1999 – Elected a member of the [[European Molecular Biology Organization]] (EMBO)  
* 2004 – Appointed [[Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire|Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire ]] (DBE) 
* 2004 - Elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS)<ref name=whoswho/>
* 2007 – Awarded the [[Genetics Society Medal]] {{fact|date=February 2025}}
* 2008 – the [[United States National Academy of Sciences]] elected her a foreign member<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/20017264.html|title=Caroline Dean|website=nasonline.org|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|access-date=14 January 2020}}</ref>
* 2008 – elected a member of the [[German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]]{{fact|date=February 2025}}
* 2015 – [[Federation of European Biochemical Societies]] (FEBS)/[[European Molecular Biology Organization]] (EMBO) Women in Science Award<ref>https://www.febs.org/other-activities/women-in-science/</ref>
* 2016 – Appointed [[Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (DBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to plant science research and women in science.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=61608|supp=y|page=B8|date=11 June 2016}}</ref>
* 2016 – Dean was awarded with the [[Darwin Medal]] by the Royal Society for her work addressing fundamental questions in the perception of temperature cues and how modifications in epigenetic mechanisms play an important role in adaptation.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dsunM9ukGLgaW3HdG9cvJ_QKd7pWjGI0qi_fCb1ROD4/pubhtml?gid=216486814&single=true Darwin Medal 2016]</ref>
* 2018 – Awarded the [[L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards|L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award]]
* 2020 – Received the [[Wolf Prize in Agriculture]].<ref>{{Cite web| title = Caroline Dean| work = Wolf Foundation| accessdate = 13 September 2023| date = 13 January 2020| url = https://wolffund.org.il/2020/01/13/caroline-dean}}</ref>
*2020 – awarded the [[Royal Medal]] by the [[Royal Society]]<ref>{{Cite web|date=4 August 2020|title=Royal Society award for Professor Dame Caroline Dean|url=https://www.jic.ac.uk/news/royal-society-award-for-professor-dame-caroline-dean/|access-date=20 January 2021|website=John Innes Centre|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Dean married to [[Jonathan D. G. Jones]] in 1991 and has one son and one daughter.<ref name="whoswho"/><ref name=genomebiology/>

==References==
{{reflist}}{{Wolf Prize in Agriculture}}{{FRS 2004}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Caroline}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Female fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:20th-century British botanists]]
[[Category:21st-century British botanists]]
[[Category:British women biologists]]
[[Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of York]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of York]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of East Anglia]]
[[Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science laureates]]
[[Category:Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]]