Phillip Thomas Hawkins

Phillip (Phill) Thomas Hawkins FRS[1] (born 5 October 1958) is a molecular biologist, senior group leader at the Babraham Institute.

Phill Hawkins
NationalityBritish
Scientific career
Fieldsimmunology, signal transduction
InstitutionsBabraham Institute

Phill Hawkins has contributed much to the understanding of inositol lipids functions in eukaryotic cells. Together with his long-time collaborator Leonard R Stephens, he established that PtdIns(4,5)P2 is the main substrate of receptor-controlled Type 1 phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks), thus identifying PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 as the key output signal produced by this enzyme.[2] They identified and isolated the GPCR-activated Type 1B PI3K (PI3KΥ) and, in a sustained body of work, defined its structure, explained its complex pattern of regulation by GβΥ and Ras, and proved its role in inflammatory events in vivo.[3] They - in parallel with Dario Alessi - identified phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 as the PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-activated link between PI3K-1 activation and protein kinase B activation, a key pathway through which PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 formation regulates cell proliferation and survival.[4][5]

Life

Phill Hawkins received a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Bristol (1980) and a PhD in Biochemistry (1983) from the University of Birmingham. After a post-doctoral training in S.K. & F. Research Ltd, he joined the Molecular Neurobiology unit of the MRC in Cambridge (UK). He joined the AFRC IAPGR (now Babraham Institute) in 1990 and became a group leader in 2003.

Awards and recognition

Phill Hawkins has received several awards, including:

References
  1. http://royalsociety.org/people/phillip-hawkins/ retrieved February 25, 2014
  2. P.T. Hawkins, T.R. Jackson, L.R. Stephens (1992) Platelet-derived growth factor stimulates synthesis of Ptdlns(3,4,5)P3 by activating a Ptdlns(4,5)P2 3-OH kinase. Nature 358, 157-159
  3. L. Stephens, A. Smrcka, F.T. Cooke, T.R. Jackson, P.C. Sternweis, P.T. Hawkins (1994) A novel phosphoinositide 3 kinase activity in myeloid-derived cells is activated by G protein βγ subunits. Cell 77, 83-93
  4. David Stokoe, Leonard R. Stephens, Terry Copeland, Piers R. J. Gaffney, Colin B. Reese, Gavin F. Painter, Andrew B. Holmes, Frank McCormick, Phillip T. Hawkins (1997) Dual Role of Phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate in the Activation of Protein Kinase B. Science 277, 567-570
  5. Len Stephens, Karen Anderson, David Stokoe, Hediye Erdjument-Bromage, Gavin F. Painter, Andrew B. Holmes, Piers R.J. Gaffney, Colin B. Reese, Frank McCormick, Paul Tempst, J. Coadwell, Phillip T. Hawkins (1998) Protein Kinase B Kinases That Mediate Phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-Trisphosphate-Dependent Activation of Protein Kinase B. Science 279, 710-714
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