Susan Greenfield
Encyclopedia
Susan Adele Greenfield, Baroness Greenfield, CBE
(born 1 October 1950) is a British
scientist
, writer
, broadcaster
, and member of the House of Lords
. Greenfield, whose specialty is the physiology
of the brain
, has worked to research and bring attention to Parkinson's disease
and Alzheimer's disease
.
Greenfield is Professor
of Synaptic
Pharmacology
at Lincoln College, Oxford
. On 1 February 2006, she was installed as Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University
in Edinburgh
. Until 8 January 2010, she was director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, but following a review, she was made redundant.
borough
of Hammersmith
to Doris (Thorp), a dancer, and Reginald Myer Greenfield, an electrician. Greenfield attended the private Godolphin and Latymer School
, and was the first member of her family to go on to university, at St Hilda's College, Oxford
.
In 1994, she was invited to be the first woman to give the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture, then sponsored by the BBC
. Her lecture was titled "Journey to the centre of the brain". She was appointed Director of the Royal Institution
in 1998 and Adelaide
's Thinker in Residence
for 2004 and 2005. From 1995 to 1999, she gave public lectures as Gresham Professor of Physic
.
Greenfield created three research and biotechnology
companies: Synaptica, BrainBoost
, and Neurodiagnostics, which research neuronal diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. She is a Patron of Dignity in Dying
and a founder and trustee of the charity Science for Humanity, a network of scientists, researchers and technologists that collaborates with non-profits to create practical solutions to the everyday problems of developing communities. The idea of matching scientific capability with the needs of poor communities came to her while writing Tomorrow's People, a book in which she imagined a future world of "techno haves and techno have-nots". She felt that the democratization and dissemination of science through organizations like Science for Humanity was a way to avoid such a future.
in the House of Lords
as a crossbencher, having no formal political affiliation. Records of Baroness Greenfield's activity in the House of Lords indicate abstention on a range of issues.
, Greenfield cited a June 2011 study published in PLoS ONE
as evidence for her claims. In the study, the authors investigated changes in the microstructures of major fiber pathways in the brain of 18 adolescents. Gray matter
atrophy and fractional anisotropy
to some white matter portions of the brain were found to have a significant correlation with the duration of internet addiction disorder
(IAD). The authors noted similarities between the structural changes from IAD and those from substance abuse studies, suggesting that the mechanism for both may be similar. The authors concluded that the structural changes they found "probably contributed to chronic dysfunction in subjects with IAD."
In this respect, she has been criticised by Ben Goldacre
for claiming that technology has adverse effects on the human brain, without having undertaken any research or properly evaluating available evidence. Goldacre called on her to "[formally] write up her concerns about computers damaging children's brains", to which she replied that he is "like the people who denied that smoking caused cancer".
More recently Dr Goldacre replied that "A scientist with enduring concerns about a serious widespread risk would normally set out their concerns clearly, to other scientists, in a scientific paper"
's Michael Faraday Prize
, and in January 2000, received the CBE for her contribution to the public understanding of science. Dimbleby Lecturer 1999. Hon Australian of the Year 2006. She is a Patron of the Alzheimer's Research Trust
. http://www.alzheimers-research.org.uk/aboutus/whoweare/people.php?type=Patrons In 2003, she was appointed a Chevalier
Légion d'Honneur
by the French
Government, and in June 2001, she was created a Life Peer
, as Baroness Greenfield, of Ot Moor
in the County of Oxfordshire
.
Professor of Physical Chemistry
, Peter Atkins
; they divorced in 2005.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1 October 1950) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
, and member of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. Greenfield, whose specialty is the physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
of the brain
Human brain
The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
, has worked to research and bring attention to Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
and Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
.
Greenfield is Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Synaptic
Synapse
In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell...
Pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
at Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
. On 1 February 2006, she was installed as Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University is a university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The name commemorates George Heriot, the 16th century financier to King James, and James Watt, the great 18th century inventor and engineer....
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. Until 8 January 2010, she was director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, but following a review, she was made redundant.
Early life
Baroness Greenfield was born in the west LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
to Doris (Thorp), a dancer, and Reginald Myer Greenfield, an electrician. Greenfield attended the private Godolphin and Latymer School
Godolphin and Latymer School
The Godolphin and Latymer School is an independent school for 700 girls aged eleven to eighteen in London. Ms Margaret Rudland was the head mistress of the school for over 20 years before being succeeded by Ms Ruth Mercer.-History:...
, and was the first member of her family to go on to university, at St Hilda's College, Oxford
St Hilda's College, Oxford
St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.The college was founded in 1893 as a hall for women, and remained an all-women's college until 2006....
.
Career
Greenfield's research is focused on brain physiology, particularly the etiology of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, but she is best known as a populariser of science. Greenfield has written several popular-science books about the brain and consciousness, and regularly gives public lectures, and appears on radio and television.In 1994, she was invited to be the first woman to give the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture, then sponsored by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. Her lecture was titled "Journey to the centre of the brain". She was appointed Director of the Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
in 1998 and Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
's Thinker in Residence
Thinker in Residence
Thinkers in Residence is a program in Adelaide, South Australia, that brings leaders in their fields to work with the South Australian community and government in developing new ideas and approaches to problem solving, and to promote South Australia....
for 2004 and 2005. From 1995 to 1999, she gave public lectures as Gresham Professor of Physic
Gresham Professor of Physic
The Professor of Physic at Gresham College in London, England, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1596 / 7, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to eight and in addition the college now has visiting...
.
Greenfield created three research and biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
companies: Synaptica, BrainBoost
Brainboost
Brainboost is a metasearch engine designed to provide specific answers to questions asked in natural language. Currently it only supports English. The Brainboost engine uses machine learning and natural language processing AI techniques to answer the questions.Traditional engines return the links...
, and Neurodiagnostics, which research neuronal diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. She is a Patron of Dignity in Dying
Dignity in Dying
Dignity in Dying is a United Kingdom nationwide campaigning organisation. It is funded by voluntary contributions from members of the public, and as of December 2010, it claimed to have 25,000 actively subscribing supporters...
and a founder and trustee of the charity Science for Humanity, a network of scientists, researchers and technologists that collaborates with non-profits to create practical solutions to the everyday problems of developing communities. The idea of matching scientific capability with the needs of poor communities came to her while writing Tomorrow's People, a book in which she imagined a future world of "techno haves and techno have-nots". She felt that the democratization and dissemination of science through organizations like Science for Humanity was a way to avoid such a future.
Political affiliation
Baroness Greenfield sits in the United Kingdom ParliamentParliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
as a crossbencher, having no formal political affiliation. Records of Baroness Greenfield's activity in the House of Lords indicate abstention on a range of issues.
Internet Addiction Disorder and controversy
Greenfield has expressed concerns that modern technology, and in particular social networking sites, may have a negative impact on child development. In an August 2011 interview with New ScientistNew Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
, Greenfield cited a June 2011 study published in PLoS ONE
PLoS ONE
PLoS ONE is an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science since 2006. It covers primary research from any discipline within science and medicine. All submissions go through an internal and external pre-publication peer review but are not excluded on the...
as evidence for her claims. In the study, the authors investigated changes in the microstructures of major fiber pathways in the brain of 18 adolescents. Gray matter
Gray Matter
"Gray Matter" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the October 1973 issue of Cavalier magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift. It is set in the same area as King's novel Dreamcatcher.-Setting:...
atrophy and fractional anisotropy
Fractional anisotropy
Fractional anisotropy is a scalar value between zero and one that describes the degree of anisotropy of a diffusion process. A value of zero means that diffusion is isotropic, i.e. it is unrestricted in all directions. A value of one means that diffusion occurs only along one axis and is fully...
to some white matter portions of the brain were found to have a significant correlation with the duration of internet addiction disorder
Internet addiction disorder
Internet addiction disorder , or, more broadly, Internet overuse, problematic computer use or pathological computer use, is excessive computer use that interferes with daily life...
(IAD). The authors noted similarities between the structural changes from IAD and those from substance abuse studies, suggesting that the mechanism for both may be similar. The authors concluded that the structural changes they found "probably contributed to chronic dysfunction in subjects with IAD."
In this respect, she has been criticised by Ben Goldacre
Ben Goldacre
Ben Michael Goldacre born 1974 is a British science writer, doctor and psychiatrist. He is the author of The Guardian newspaper's weekly Bad Science column and a book of the same title, published by Fourth Estate in September 2008....
for claiming that technology has adverse effects on the human brain, without having undertaken any research or properly evaluating available evidence. Goldacre called on her to "[formally] write up her concerns about computers damaging children's brains", to which she replied that he is "like the people who denied that smoking caused cancer".
More recently Dr Goldacre replied that "A scientist with enduring concerns about a serious widespread risk would normally set out their concerns clearly, to other scientists, in a scientific paper"
Awards
As well as having 30 honorary degrees , Greenfield has been awarded the Royal SocietyRoyal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
's Michael Faraday Prize
Michael Faraday Prize
The Michael Faraday Prize is awarded by the Royal Society of London for "excellence in communicating science to UK audiences". Named after Michael Faraday, the medal itself is made of silver gilt, and is accompanied by a purse of £2500...
, and in January 2000, received the CBE for her contribution to the public understanding of science. Dimbleby Lecturer 1999. Hon Australian of the Year 2006. She is a Patron of the Alzheimer's Research Trust
Alzheimer's Research Trust
Alzheimer's Research UK is the United Kingdom's leading dementia research charity, founded in 1992 as the Alzheimer’s Research Trust.In February 2011 Alzheimer's Research Trust renamed as the Alzheimer's Research UK...
. http://www.alzheimers-research.org.uk/aboutus/whoweare/people.php?type=Patrons In 2003, she was appointed a Chevalier
Chevalier
Chevalier is a class of membership in a French Order of Chivalry or order of merit.* a member of the Ordre National du Mérite* a rank in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres* a rank in the Legion d'honneur* a member of the Order of Palmes académiques...
Légion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Government, and in June 2001, she was created a Life Peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
, as Baroness Greenfield, of Ot Moor
Otmoor
Otmoor or Ot Moor is an area of wetland and wet grassland in Oxfordshire, England, located halfway between Oxford and Bicester. It is about above sea level, and has an area of approximately ....
in the County of Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
.
Personal life
Greenfield was married to an Oxford UniversityUniversity of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
Professor of Physical Chemistry
Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
, Peter Atkins
Peter Atkins
Peter William Atkins is a British chemist and former Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Lincoln College. He is a prolific writer of popular chemistry textbooks, including Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Molecular Quantum Mechanics...
; they divorced in 2005.
Further reading
- Screen culture may be changing our brains (Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
- The 7.30 ReportThe 7.30 ReportThe 7.30 Report is an Australian nightly television current affairs program, that was shown on ABC1 and ABC News 24 at , Mondays–Thursdays...
) 2009-03-19
External links
- Susan Greenfield's website
- Oxford home page
- Bio from the Social Issues Research Centre
- Education Guardian biography
- Biography and Interviews
- The Wrong Chemistry
- Audio: Susan Greenfield in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion programme The ForumThe Forum (BBC World Service)The Forum is the BBC World Service's flagship discussion programme. It brings together prominent thinkers from different disciplines and different parts of the world to try and create stimulating discussion, informed by highly distinct academic, artistic and cultural backgrounds.-Format:Each...
- Knight Ayton Management: Professor Susan Greenfield