User:ProfShmoo/sandbox

=Marine Biodiscovery=

Marine biodiscovery is the discovery of compounds from natural sources - also known as natural products - from the marine environment. The marine environment is considered a rich source of potential chemical diversity because 1) it hosts greater biological diversity than terrestrial and freshwater environments; 2) the marine environment encompasses a broad range of diverse habitats; and 3) these habitats may offer extreme living conditions (e.g., the deep sea, Southern Ocean, polluted seas) which may drive the evolution of diverse chemistry. Marine organisms produce a diverse array of metabolites with novel chemical structures and potent biological activities.  Much biodiscovery research focuses on the search for new drugs but, in its broadest sense, biodiscovery involves searching for compounds that have any useful biological application, for example, as antifoulants, catalysts, nutritional supplements (nutraceuticals) and personal care products (cosmeceuticals).

Professor Jane Grimson is a Scottish-born computer engineer. She is Fellow Emerita and Pro-Chancellor at Trinity College Dublin.

Education
Jane Grimson attended Alexandra College Dublin. She was the first female to graduate in engineering from Trinity College Dublin obtaining a first class honors degree and gold medal in 1970. She received a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Toronto in 1971, and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 1981.

Research and career
In 1980, Jane Grimson was appointed to a Lectureship in Computer Science at Trinity College Dublin where she spent her entire academic career, holding a Personal Chair in Health Informatics prior to her retirement in 2014. Her major research interests are in Health Informatics, a field concerned with the application of Information and Communications Technology to improve the quality and safety of healthcare.

Senior positions
Jane Grimson served as Dean of Engineering and Systems Sciences from 1996-1999, as pro-Dean of Research in 2001 and as Vice-Provost from 2001-2005, being the first female to ever take these roles. She was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University of Dublin in 2016.

A chartered Fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland (now Engineers Ireland) and a EUR ING, Professor Grimson served as President of Engineers Ireland from 1999-2000, again the first female to hold this role. She is a Fellow and Past-President (2002) of the Irish Academy of Engineering and of the Irish Computer Society (2000-2004). She was President of the Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland from 1999-2006. Professor Grimson was partially seconded to the newly established Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) as its first Director of Health Information in 2007, where she led the development of national standards for health information. In 2014, she was appointed Acting Chief Executive of HIQA, just prior to her retirement.

She has served on numerous boards including Science Foundation Ireland, the Energy Research Council, the European Research Advisory Board, and the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice and was Chair of the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology.

Diversity work
Professor Grimson is an outspoken advocate for the advancement of women in engineering and in research more broadly. She helped to establish WiSER (the Centre for Women in Science and Engineering Research) at Trinity College Dublin, and also chaired a Department of Education and Science committee aiming to increase female representation in Science, Engineering and Technology. She also chaired the Gender Equality Task Force at NUI Galway from 2015-2016.

Awards and honours
Professor Grimson was elected as an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2004. She was awarded the O%27Moore_Medal in 2007 in recognition of her contribution to the field of Health Informatics. In 2009, she was elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy.