Jenny Morton

Anne Jennifer Morton, FRSB, known as Jenny Morton, is a New Zealand neurobiologist and academic, specialising in neurodegenerative diseases. She has been a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge, since 1991 and a Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Cambridge since 2009. Her current research is focused on Huntington's disease, and she is using sheep as a large animal model for the disease. This research has led her to discover that sheep can recognise human faces.

Morton was born in Kaikohe, New Zealand,^[1] and was raised in the country's Far North District.^[2] She undertook doctoral research in physiology at the University of Otago, completing her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1983.^[3][4] On 21 February 2009, the University of Cambridge admitted her to Master of Arts (MA Cantab) status.^[5] She was awarded a Doctor of Science (ScD) degree by the University of Cambridge in 2014.^[3]

Scholia has a profile for Jenny Morton (Q42857576).

Having completed her doctorate, Morton moved to England to join the Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge as a post-doctoral fellow.^[3] In 1991, she was appointed a lecturer at the university and elected a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge.^[3] Since 1995, she has been the director of studies in medicine and veterinary medicine at Newnham College.^[3][6] In 2005, she was made a Reader in Experimental Neurobiology in the Department of Pharmacology.^[7] In 2009, she was appointed Professor of Neurobiology in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience.^[8] She is the first New Zealand woman to be appointed to a professorship at Cambridge.^[9] From October 2009 to September 2010, she held a Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship.^[10] In 2015, she was the Visiting Seelye Fellow at the University of Auckland.^[2][11]

Morton's current research focuses on "understanding the mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and on developing strategies to delay or prevent the death of neurones in injured or degenerating brain".^[12] She has specialised in Huntington's disease since 1993.^[3][2] Having undertaken research into Huntington's using transgenic mice, she moved into using transgenic sheep as a large animal model of Huntington's disease.^[10][11]

Morton's research with sheep has also led to an interest in measuring their learning and memory.^[6] Her team have been able to teach sheep to choose a familiar face over unfamiliar one when presented with two photographs, which has led to the discovery that sheep can recognise human faces.^[13][14]

Morton is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB).^[3]

• Morton, A. J.; Wood, N. I.; Hastings, M. H.; Hurelbrink, C.; Barker, R. A.; Maywood, E. S. (5 January 2005). "Disintegration of the Sleep-Wake Cycle and Circadian Timing in Huntington's Disease". Journal of Neuroscience. 25 (1): 157–163. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3842-04.2005. PMC 6725210. PMID 15634777.
• Morton, A. J.; Skillings, E.; Bussey, T. J.; Saksida, L. M. (October 2006). "Measuring cognitive deficits in disabled mice using an automated interactive touchscreen system". Nature Methods. 3 (10): 767. doi:10.1038/nmeth1006-767. PMID 16990806. S2CID 30073312.
• Morton, A. J.; Glynn, D.; Leavens, W.; Zheng, Z.; Faull, R. L. M.; Skepper, J. N.; Wight, J. M. (March 2009). "Paradoxical delay in the onset of disease caused by super-long CAG repeat expansions in R6/2 mice". Neurobiology of Disease. 33 (3): 331–341. doi:10.1016/j.nbd.2008.11.015. PMID 19130884. S2CID 25607303.
• Morton, A. J.; Avanzo, L.; Chapouthier, G. (31 January 2011). "Executive Decision-Making in the Domestic Sheep". PLoS ONE. 6 (1): e15752. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...615752M. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.293.5141. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015752. PMC 3031539. PMID 21305061.
• Goodman, A. O. G.; Rogers, L.; Pilsworth, S.; McAllister, C. J.; Shneerson, J. M.; Morton, A. J.; Barker, R. A. (20 November 2010). "Asymptomatic Sleep Abnormalities Are a Common Early Feature in Patients with Huntington's Disease". Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports. 11 (2): 211–217. doi:10.1007/s11910-010-0163-x. PMID 21103960. S2CID 207333918.
• Morton, A. J.; Rudiger, S. R.; Wood, N. I.; Sawiak, S. J.; Brown, G. C.; Mclaughlan, C. J.; Kuchel, T. R.; Snell, R. G.; Faull, R. L. M.; Bawden, C. S. (31 January 2014). "Early and progressive circadian abnormalities in Huntington's disease sheep are unmasked by social environment". Human Molecular Genetics. 23 (13): 3375–3383. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddu047. PMID 24488771.