Anne Warner

Anne E. Warner (25 August 1940 – 16 May 2012) was a British biologist and a professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at University College London. Her major field of research was morphogenesis. Warner was known for her work and leadership in a variety of research projects and organisations. She is perhaps most well known for her roles as a cell electrophysiologist, politician of science, and founder of the organisation UCL centre CoMPLEX.

Education Born Anne Elizabeth Brookes on 25 August 1940 at Golders Green, she was the only child of Elizabeth (née Marshall) and James Frederick Crompton Brooks (1914–1996), an engineer in the Ministry of Aircraft Production. She was educated at Pate's Grammar School for Girls in Cheltenham, going on to study at University College London where she graduated with a BSc in physiology. While working with the embryos of frogs, Warner observed "electrical coupling" between adjacent cells, meaning that an induced change in the resting voltage of one cell resulted in a corresponding change in an adjacent cell, which demonstrated the fact that junctions between the cells are responsible for transporting ions from one location to the next. she used antibody injections to block the channels in the connections of the gap junctions. After injecting the embryos with a specific antibody, which was said to have blocked the channels of gap junctions, Warner confirmed the blockage of the channels by injecting dyes into the cells in addition to confirming the lack of electrical coupling that she observed in earlier experiments. Of all of the organisations and leadership roles that Warner was involved in, she is perhaps most well known for her role as vice-president of the Marine Biological Association (MBA) council and Director of the CoMPLEX (Centre of Mathematics, Physics, and Life Sciences) at the University College London. With Warner's role in the MBA, she is partially responsible for the organisation's survival and legacy to this day. Among many of the programs that Warner initiated in the organisation, she founded the cell physiology Workshop in 1984, which was responsible for creating many cell physiologist cohorts across the world. Warner was known as a formidable lady who brought together her colleagues through her perseverance and motivation to solve problems. Through her efforts, Warner dedicated her life to making a difference in her field of research and the many organisations that she was a part of.