Anita Bauer Roberts (April 3, 1942 – May 26, 2006) was an American molecular biologist who made pioneering observations of a protein, TGF-β, that is critical in healing wounds and bone fractures and that has a dual role in blocking or stimulating cancers.

During the early 1980s, Roberts and her colleagues began to experiment with the protein transforming growth factor beta, commonly referred to as TGF-β.

They discovered that it helps play a central role in signaling other growth factors in the body to heal wounds and fractures speedily.

[1] TGF-β was later shown to have additional effects, including regulation of the heartbeat and the response of the eye to aging.

[1] Roberts was a former president of the Wound Healing Society[5] In 2005, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.