Suzanne Cory

Suzanne Cory (born 11 March 1942) is an Australian molecular biologist. She has worked on the genetics of the immune system and cancer and has lobbied her country to invest in science. She is married to fellow scientist Jerry Adams, also a Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research scientist.

Early life and education Suzanne Cory was raised in Kew, in suburban Melbourne, Australia. She was educated at Canterbury Girls' Secondary College and University High School, Melbourne. Cory studied at the University of Melbourne where she graduated with a BSc degree in 1964 and an MSc degree under Lloyd Finch in 1965, both in biochemistry. By then she had "caught the research bug" decided to do her PhD. She applied to the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, England and was accepted, due in part to lobbying by Professor Trikojus, and due to her winning an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship. Beginning in 1966, she worked with such giants in the world of molecular biology as Francis Crick, Sydney Brenner, Fred Sanger and Max Perutz, who introduced her to American post-doc Jerry Adams, whom she would later marry.

In 1971, Cory and her husband began their research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne, Australia. The two scientists helped introduce new scientific technology and methods they had been exposed to in Geneva and Cambridge, which helped expand and better the molecular biology research in Australia. They initially chose to study the genetic component of immunity, discovering that antibody genes are a combination of pieces and can be arranged in a variety of ways. This discovery helped explain the diversity of the immune system and its ability to fight a large array of harmful cell invaders. One of the main focuses of their cancer cell research is on cell proliferation and cell death. In particular, the oncoprotein Myc and the Bcl-2 protein family are of interest to her current research lab. Bcl-2 is an important family of intracellular proteins that helps regulate apoptosis, or cell suicide. The caspases, a type of protease, remain inactive until signaled through a cascade to degrade the proteins that make up a cell.

Cory was the Director of WEHI from 1996 until 30 June 2009 and remains a faculty member, having rejoined the institute's Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division. Her current research focuses on genetic changes in blood cancers and the effects of chemotherapeutic drugs on the cancer cells. Cory's work has been published in Blood, The EMBO Journal, Nature, Cell Death & Differentiation, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Awards and honors 1986 — elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA) 1997 — awarded Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture of the Australian Academy of Science 1997 — elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Victoria (FRSV) 1998 — received Charles S. Mott Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation (joint recipient) 1999 — named a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) 2001 — recipient of a L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science 2001 — inducted onto Victorian Honour Roll of Women 2002 — awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society 2004 — elected an Academician of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences 2009 — named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and was presented with her award in Canberra, Australia, by the Ambassador of France in Australia, Michel Filhol 2011 — awarded the Association for International Cancer Research Colin Thomson Medal 2012 — winner, CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science 2013 — elected as a Fellow of the inaugural Class of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy 2014 — delivered the annual ABC Boyer Lectures 2021 — elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences

Personal life During her time at the LMB, Cory met Jerry Adams, a scientist from the United States. The two scientists later married and had two daughters.