About me
Having been told by my father that ‘education was wasted on women’, I left school in 1967, at the age of 16, following ‘O’ level’s, to work as a junior technician with Professor R.A. Gregory at the Department of Physiology, in Liverpool. He had been nominated for a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954, the year that it was awarded to Linus Carl Pauling; elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1965 and awarded a CBE in 1971. This was my first introduction to scientific research and I was so captivated by his dedication and enthusiasm, I discovered that research was what I wanted to do for the rest of my working life.
I went on to work with other groups within Physiology, still involved in research, but with applications to patient care at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. I continued as a research technician, following my marriage and move to Toronto University, Canada, where I was involved in kidney function, measuring renin-angiotensin responses using bioassay techniques in collaboration with Toronto General Hospital. I then returned to England when I started a family and spent the next few years setting up home and rearing the children.
Following the children starting school in 1978, I returned to education, studying ‘A’ levels then reading Biochemistry at Liverpool. As an undergraduate, I worked within the pharmaceutical industry using a variety of analytical techniques including GLC, HPLC to analyse the raw material used in the production of drugs. I also worked within a unit at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital which provided a diagnostic service for the National Health Institutions throughout the north west of England. Primarily, the work involved radioimmunoassay and during my time there I developed the assay for routine measurement of Human Placental Lactogen in serum
Following my graduation in 1981, I returned to my role as a research technician in the Veterinary School at Liverpool where I worked with Dr R.M. Batt on enzyme function of the gut in Irish setter dogs. In addition to my own research projects, I supervised five other technicians and PhD students and ensured the smooth-running of the research group as a whole. As a result of changes within the school, I took sole responsibility for running a diagnostic service which measured exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in serum, liaising directly with veterinary surgeons.
In March 2002, still working within the Veterinary School, I had the great privilege of joining the Protein Function Group (PFG). This for me was a steep learning curve and my training in proteomic techniques began. Initially, I was involved in many exciting and varied research projects; analysis of subcutaneous gel in chicks; changes in the proteome of chicken and carp skeletal muscle; analysis of urinary cauxin in felines and studies into scent marking in mice. I continue to support our collaborating groups within the University, preparing QConCATs and recombinant proteins, using molecular biology techniques.
I also have a pastoral role within the group and provide training and guidance when required. Since September 2008, I act as Personal Tutor to undergraduates of the BVSc course.
Since the Proteomics Core Facility opened in May, 2011 I have provided technical support and expertise, and, happily, I am still continuing to work on exciting samples. So far; drosophila, caterpillar vomit and stone-age, archaeological bone.
During my working life in research, I have continued to meet new challenges and met and worked with exciting and dedicated people. Everyone within PFG is no exception to that. Is education wasted on women? I can’t speak for all women, but in my case, it’s a definite, No! Do I still enjoy research? You bet!
Publications
Having been told by my father that ‘education was wasted on women’, I left school in 1967, at the age of 16, following ‘O’ level’s, to work as a junior technician with Professor R.A. Gregory at the Department of Physiology, in Liverpool. He had been nominated for a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954, the year that it was awarded to Linus Carl Pauling; elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1965 and awarded a CBE in 1971. This was my first introduction to scientific research and I was so captivated by his dedication and enthusiasm, I discovered that research was what I wanted to do for the rest of my working life.
I went on to work with other groups within Physiology, still involved in research, but with applications to patient care at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. I continued as a research technician, following my marriage and move to Toronto University, Canada, where I was involved in kidney function, measuring renin-angiotensin responses using bioassay techniques in collaboration with Toronto General Hospital. I then returned to England when I started a family and spent the next few years setting up home and rearing the children.
Following the children starting school in 1978, I returned to education, studying ‘A’ levels then reading Biochemistry at Liverpool. As an undergraduate, I worked within the pharmaceutical industry using a variety of analytical techniques including GLC, HPLC to analyse the raw material used in the production of drugs. I also worked within a unit at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital which provided a diagnostic service for the National Health Institutions throughout the north west of England. Primarily, the work involved radioimmunoassay and during my time there I developed the assay for routine measurement of Human Placental Lactogen in serum
Following my graduation in 1981, I returned to my role as a research technician in the Veterinary School at Liverpool where I worked with Dr R.M. Batt on enzyme function of the gut in Irish setter dogs. In addition to my own research projects, I supervised five other technicians and PhD students and ensured the smooth-running of the research group as a whole. As a result of changes within the school, I took sole responsibility for running a diagnostic service which measured exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in serum, liaising directly with veterinary surgeons.
In March 2002, still working within the Veterinary School, I had the great privilege of joining the Protein Function Group (PFG). This for me was a steep learning curve and my training in proteomic techniques began. Initially, I was involved in many exciting and varied research projects; analysis of subcutaneous gel in chicks; changes in the proteome of chicken and carp skeletal muscle; analysis of urinary cauxin in felines and studies into scent marking in mice. I continue to support our collaborating groups within the University, preparing QConCATs and recombinant proteins, using molecular biology techniques.
I also have a pastoral role within the group and provide training and guidance when required. Since September 2008, I act as Personal Tutor to undergraduates of the BVSc course.
Since the Proteomics Core Facility opened in May, 2011 I have provided technical support and expertise, and, happily, I am still continuing to work on exciting samples. So far; drosophila, caterpillar vomit and stone-age, archaeological bone.
During my working life in research, I have continued to meet new challenges and met and worked with exciting and dedicated people. Everyone within PFG is no exception to that. Is education wasted on women? I can’t speak for all women, but in my case, it’s a definite, No! Do I still enjoy research? You bet!
Publications
- Sarah A. Roberts, Deborah M. Simpson, Stuart D. Armstrong, Amanda J. Davidson, Duncan H. Robertson, Lynn McLean, Robert J. Beynon and Jane L. Hurst. (2010): Darcin: a male pheromone that stimulates female memory and sexual attraction to an individual male’s odour. B.M.C. Biology June; 8: 75
- Philip Brownridge, Luciane Vieira de Mello, Mary E Peters, Lynn McLean, Amy Claydon, Andrew R. Cossins, Phillip D. Whitfield, and Iain S. Young. (2009): Regional Variation in Parvalbumin Isoform Expression Correlates with Muscle Performance in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio). J. Exp. Biol. Jan; 212 (Pt 2):184-193
- McLean, L., Hurst, J.L., Gaskell, C.J., Lewis, J.C.M., Beynon, R.J. (2007): Characterization of Cauxin in the Urine of Domestic and Big Cats. J. Chem. Ecol.33:1997-2009
- McLean, L., Young, I.S., Doherty, M.K., Robertson, D.H.L., Cossins, A.R., Gracey, A.Y., Beynon, R.J. & Whitfield, P.D. (2007): Global Cooling: Cold acclimation and the expression of soluble proteins in carp skeletal muscle. Proteomics, 7 (15):2667-81
- Doherty, M.K., Mclean, L. & Beynon, R.J. (2007) Avian Proteomics: Advances, Challenges and New Technologies. Cytogenetic and Genome Research; 117 (1-4):358-69
- Burniston, .J.G., Mclean, L., Beynon, R.J., Goldspink, D.F. (2007): Anabolic effects of a non-myotoxic dose of the 2-adrenergic receptor agonist clenbuterol on rat plantaris muscle. Muscle & Nerve, 35 (2): 217-223
- Vasilaki, A., Simpson, D.M., McArdle, F., McLean, L., Beynon, R.J., van Remmen, H., Richardson, A.G., McArdle, A., Faulkner, J.A. & Jackson, M.J. (2007) Formation of 3-nitrotyrosines in carbonic anhydrase III is a sensitive marker of oxidative stress in skeletal muscle. Proteomics (Clinical Applications) vol 1 pp 362-372
- Batchelor, D., Noble, P-J., Cripps, P., Taylor, R., McLean, L., Leibl, M., German, A. (2007): Breed associations for canine exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 21 (2):207-214 Mar.-Apr.
- Burniston, .J.G., Mclean, L., Beynon, R.J., Goldspink, D.F. (2006): Functional, cellular and molecular changes induced in the rat plantaris muscle by a low, non-myotoxic dose of the beta (2)-antagonist clenbuterol. FASEB Journal 20 (4) A808-A808 Part 1, Mar 6
- Vasilaki A., McArdle F., McLean L., Simpson D.M., Beynon R.J., McArdle A., Van der Meulen, J.H., van Remmen H., Richardson A.G., Faulkner J.A. & Jackson M.J. (2005) Identification of oxidised and nitrated proteins in skeletal muscle of mice with deficient antioxidant defences. Free Radical Research, 39:S82-S82 Suppl. 1
- Doherty, M.K., McLean, L., Hayter, J.R., Pratt, J.M., Robertson, D.H.L., El-Shafei, A., Gaskell, S.J., Beynon, R.J. (2004): The proteome of chicken skeletal muscle: changes in soluble protein expression during growth in a layer strain. Proteomics, 4 (7) 2082-2093.
- McLean, L., Doherty, M.K., Deeming, D.C., Beynon, R.J. (2004): A proteome analysis of the subcutaneous gel in avian hatchlings. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, 3:250-256.
- Batt R.M., Horadagoda A., McLean L., Morton D.B and Simpson K.W (1989) Identification and characterisation of pancreatic intrinsic factor in the dog. American Journal of Physiology, 256, no 3, G517-G523
- Batt R.M., McLean L. and Riley J.E. (1988) Response of the jejunal mucosa in dogs with aerobic and anaerobic bacterial overgrowth to antibiotic therapy. Gut, 29, 473-482
- Williams D.A., Batt R.M. and McLean L. (1987): Bacterial overgrowth in the duodenum of dogs with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 191: 201-206
- Batt R.M., McLean L. and Carter M.W. (1987): Sequential morphological and biochemical studies of naturally-occurring wheat-sensitive enteropathy in Irish setter dogs. Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 32: 184-194
- Batt R.M. and McLean L. (1987): Comparison of the biochemical changes in the jejunal mucosa of dogs with aerobic and anaerobic bacterial overgrowth. Gastroenterology, 93: 986-993
- Batt R.M., Hart C.A., McLean L. and Saunders J.R. (1987): Organ culture of rabbit ileum for the investigation of the pathogenesis of damage by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Gut, 28, 1283-1290
- Batt R.M., Hart C.A., McLean L. and Saunders J.R. (1987): Application of organ culture to the investigation of lectin-induced damage to the brush border membrane. Gut, 28, A1397
- Taylor C.J., Hart C.A., Batt R.M., McDougall C. and McLean L. (1986): Ultrastructural and biochemical changes in human jejunal mucosa associated with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (0111). Journal of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 5, 70-73
- Batt R.M., McLean L. and Riley J.E. (1986): Recovery of brush border abnormalities on German Shepherds with bacterial overgrowth following oral antibiotic treatment. In: Proceedings of the IVth Annual Forum of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Washington, 14.7
- Batt R.M., McLean L. and Horadagoda A. (1986): New approaches to the diagnosis of malabsorption in the dog. In: Proceedings of the IVth International Symposium of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Amsterdam, 110-113
- Batt R.M., Carter M.W. and McLean L. (1985): Wheat-sensitive enteropathy in Irish setter dogs: possible age-related brush border abnormalities. Research in Veterinary Science, 39, 80-83
- Williams D.A., Batt R.M. and McLean L. (1985): Reversible impairment of protein synthesis may contribute to jejunal abnormalities in exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Clinical Science, 68, (Suppl. 11) 37
- Williams D.A., Batt R.M. and McLean L. (1985): Reversible decreases in both synthesis and degradation of brush border proteins may contribute to jejunal abnormalities in exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. In: Proceedings of IIIrd Annual Forum of the American College of Internal Medicine, San Diego, 131
- Batt R.M., Carter M.W. and McLean L. (1984): Morphological and biochemical studies of a naturally occurring enteropathy in the Irish setter dog; a comparison with celiac disease in man. Research in Veterinary Science, 37, 339-346
- Batt R.M., Carter M.W. and McLean L. (1984): Developmental brush border defect associated with cereal sensitivity in the Irish setter dog. Clinical Science, 66, 38
- Batt R.M., McLean L. and Loughran M. (1984): Specific brush border abnormalities associated with wheat-sensitive enteropathy (WSE) in the Irish setter dog. Gastroenterology, 86, 1021
- Williams D.W., Batt R.M. and McLean L. (1984): Duodenal bacterial overgrowth may occur in canine exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, but is not due to achlorhydria. In: Proceedings of the IInd Annual Forum of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Washington, 34
