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My sister, Annette Dolphin, who has died aged 74, was a distinguished neuroscientist known for her pioneering work on calcium channels, which open to allow calcium to enter cells and modify their activity. In particular, calcium channels in neurons contribute to movement, pain and epilepsy.

Annette had spent the past 28 years as professor of pharmacology at University College London. Over the course of her career she published more than 250 scientific papers, won a large number of prizes and awards, and became a global leader in the field of neuronal voltage-gated calcium channels. Her contributions to scientific research transformed our understanding of the behaviour of neurons, and her findings are still revealing how individual molecules can affect neurological disorders such as chronic pain.

She was elected a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999 and a fellow of the Royal Society in 2015, serving on the council of the society between 2023 and 2025. She was also president of the Physiological Society (2024-26), having previously served as president of the British Neuroscience Association.

Annette (known as Annie to friends and family) was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to Geoffrey Dolphin, and Yvonne (nee Dowsett). The family moved to Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1960 when our father, a biophysicist, began work at the UK Atomic Energy Authority at Harwell. Annette showed an interest in science from an early age, removing the heads from dolls to check what was inside, playing with her chemistry set and causing some hilarity at home when, as a very clumsy 12-year-old, she declared she wanted to be a brain surgeon.

After leaving St Helen and St Katharine school, she studied biochemistry at St Hugh’s College, Oxford and went on to gain a PhD at the Institute of Psychiatry in London for her research into noradrenaline receptors. She subsequently held appointments at the Collège de France in Paris, Yale University, the National Institute for Medical Research, St George’s hospital medical school and the Royal Free hospital school of medicine.

In 1997 she joined University College London as a professor in the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology. During her career Annette made many friends and earned respect for mentoring large numbers of students and colleagues. She was known for her hard work and prodigious output. She also had a strong sense of fairness and was not afraid to confront authority when she felt it was necessary.

Annette read voraciously and always had interesting book recommendations. She enjoyed walking, hiking, skiing, gardening and playing the piano. In 1988 she met Bill Frith, who had a shared professional interest in the sciences, on a skiing holiday. They married in 2010.

Over the course of her life, Annette had treatment for three cancers, generally taking annual leave for treatment and working while in hospital. She never wanted any visitors or fuss. Her fourth cancer, duodenal, killed her. She had inherited Lynch syndrome, and it was her wish that there should be greater understanding of this condition, and that anyone with gastrointestinal or gynaecological cancers in their family should seek testing and monitoring.

She is survived by Bill and me.