Scientist Professor Lady Tricia Cohen, 76

Tributes have been paid to internationally acclaimed former Dundee University scientist Professor Lady Tricia Cohen, who has died aged 76. Fellow academics from the across the globe have paid tribute to the molecular biologist who made a number of breakthroughs in the field of gene cloning. She was also a keen golfer, cake-baker and musician. David Barford, from the Medical Research Council’s molecular biology laboratory at Cambridge, said he had admired and valued her as a friend and colleague, adding: “Tricia had a major influence on my career, as well as many others. I still remember clearly how helpful, generous and supportive she was when I moved to Dundee now exactly 30 years ago.” Husband and colleague Sir Philip Cohen said he had received messages of condolence from around the world “almost all mentioning her kindness and modesty”. Born Patricia Townsend Wade, in Worsley, Lancashire, Tricia was the daughter of Dr Charles Henry Townsend Wade, later the chief medical officer of Lancashire, and Elfrida (Bobbie) Robertson Wade, a physiotherapist. She was brought up in Greenmount near Bury and educated at Bolton School. She obtained a B.Sc in Biochemistry in 1966 and a PhD in Physical Anthropology in 1969 while studying at University College London (UCL) She met her future husband at UCL where they were undergraduates in the same biochemistry class. They married in February 1969 in London’s Guildhall. She joined the Biochemistry Department at Dundee in October 1971 after two years’ postdoctoral research at the University of Washington, Seattle, US, where she studied variation in human brain proteins. She was employed on a part-time contract by the university between 1973 and 1990 as she wanted to spend time with her children Suzanne, born 1974, and Simon, born 1977. A chance encounter in 1981 with another scientist sparked an interest in gene cloning. Her research went on to uncover two distinct gene families of enzymes called protein phosphatases and she also identified many novel phosphatases previously missed by biochemists. These discoveries established her international reputation and led to many invitations to lecture across the globe. Tricia and her husband became the two founding Principal Investigators of the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit (PRC-PPU) at Dundee in 1990 and she was appointed Head of Molecular Biology. Recognising her achievements, Dundee University appointed her to a professorship in 2001. She trained more than 50 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers over a 25-year period from 1985 to 2010, many of whom subsequently became leaders in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry. She had many other talents, including cakemaking skills, and loved cooking with her children and grandchildren. Tricia played the violin and was a member of the UCL orchestra at university. She excelled at Lacrosse and took up golf in her 50s. She was a member of Downfield Golf Club, Dundee, and the Duke’s course at St Andrews. Most notably, she won the British Airways Ladies Golf Week, a 72-hole handicap stroke play tournament in the south of Spain, and enjoyed many other overseas golfing holidays with Sir Philip, playing in five different continents. They also played in mixed open events together on many Scottish courses. The couple bought their first house in Invergowrie in 1972, only moving “next door” in 1988 to a new house they designed and built in their garden with the help of a local architect and builder. Tricia died peacefully at her home from the lymphoma that had been diagnosed two and a half years earlier. She is survived by her husband, two children and six grandchildren.

Professor Lady Tricia Cohen.