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Sascha du Lac, Ph.D.
Hearst Endowment Associate Professor, Systems Neurobiology
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
La Jolla, CA
Neuroscience
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Sascha du Lac is using a range of scientific techniques to understand how experience alters the neural pathways that are involved in learning. More
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Joseph P. Noel, Ph.D.
Professor, Jack Skirball Chemical Biology and Proteomics Laboratory
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
La Jolla, CA
Biochemistry
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Joseph P. Noel explores the biochemical machinery by which complex plant and microbial compounds are produced, using this knowledge to understand the evolution of enzymes and metabolic pathways and to produce novel scaffolds for the development of chemical tools for basic research and for new classes of drugs. More
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Steven E. Jacobsen, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Genetics
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Steve Jacobsen studies the genetics of DNA methylation and gene silencing in the plant Arabidopsis. More
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Liqun Luo, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biology
Stanford Univeristy
Palo Alto, CA
Neuroscience, Genetics
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Liqun Luo seeks to understand how neural circuits assemble during development and contribute to sensory perception. He has developed the MARCM technique to track neurons in the fruit fly brain and is perfecting a similar system for studying mice. More
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Stephen R. Quake, D.Phil.
Professor of Bioengineering
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA
Biophysics
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Stephen R. Quake specializes in microfluidics—technologies that use tiny volumes of fluids. Quake has developed several microfluidics chips to analyze DNA and single cells and to grow crystallized proteins. His ultimate goal is to pioneer the widespread use of microfluidic automation in biology. More
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K. Christopher Garcia, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and of Structural Biology
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA
Structural Biology, Immunology
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K. Christopher Garcia is investigating structural and functional aspects of cell surface receptor recognition and activation, focusing on receptors that are relevant to human health and disease. More
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Linda C. Hsieh-Wilson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
Neuroscience, Biochemistry
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Linda Hsieh-Wilson is integrating organic chemistry with neurobiology to understand how key carbohydrates and their various derivatives alter the structure and function of proteins in the brain. In particular, she is investigating the molecular events underpinning protein glycosylation, which may be critical to cellular communication. More
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Dianne K. Newman, Ph.D.
Clare B. Luce Assistant Professor of Geology
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
Microbiology
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Dianne Newman studies how primitive bacteria interact with minerals. Her goal is to understand the evolution of metabolism and to develop new approaches to bacterial control for medical purposes. More
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Joseph DeRisi, Ph.D.
Gordon Tomkins Chair of Biochemistry and Biophysics
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Genetics, Microbiology
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Joseph DeRisi is applying the latest genomic technology, such as DNA microarrays, to detect unknown viruses and explore the genetic machinery of malaria, to develop new treatments. More
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Kevan Shokat, Ph.D.
Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Chemistry, Genetics
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Kevan Shokat has developed a chemical-genetics technique to decipher individual kinases and their cellular signaling networks. His goals are to understand each kinase’s role in the body and to learn which kinases would be good candidates for drug development. More
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Karolin Luger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
Structural Biology
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Karolin Luger is investigating the structural biology of the nucleosome, a core chromatin particle, the fundamental packaging unit of DNA in all eukaryotic cells that regulates gene transcription. Luger hopes to refine the overall view of chromatin’s architecture by understanding how the nucleosome varies based on mutations in its own proteins or interactions with outside molecules. More
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Ronald R. Breaker, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Genetics, RNA Biology
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Ronald Breaker is discovering how RNA and DNA molecules catalyze reactions and control gene activity in the cell and is artificially evolving molecules that could be used in industry and medicine. More
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Albert Bendelac, M.D.,Ph.D.
Professor of Pathology
The University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Immunology
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Albert Bendelac pursues two areas of investigation: the biochemistry and cell biology of lipid antigens involved in immunity and the biology of T cells that recognize these lipid antigens. These studies may have medical applications for a range of immune-related diseases. More
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Milan Mrksich, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry
The University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Biochemistry
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Milan Mrksich concentrates on developing mimics of extracellular protein matrix surfaces to understand the molecular basis of cell adhesion. He has used artificial surfaces to develop “biochips”—arrays of biological molecules that can be used to assay for specific biological activities. More
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Taekjip Ha, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Physics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL
Biophysics
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Taekjip Ha uses sophisticated physical techniques to manipulate and visualize the movements of single molecules to understand basic biological processes involving DNA and other molecules. More
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Andrew Camilli, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology
Tufts University School of Medicine
Boston, MA
Microbiology, Genetics
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Andrew Camilli is working to determine how two bacterial pathogens—Vibrio cholerae, which causes cholera, and Streptococcus pneumoniae, a major cause of pneumonia and otitis media—become so virulent. More
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David R. Liu, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Biochemistry
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David Liu harnesses the ingenuity of molecules such as DNA to guide synthesis of compounds to study chemical reactions and the machinery of life. More
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Xiaowei Zhuang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and of Physics
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Biophysics
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Xiaowei Zhuang is employing a range of techniques to visualize single biological molecules and particles to reveal how viruses infect cells, how RNA and ribonucleoprotein enzymes function as catalysts, and how remodelers change chromatin configurations. More
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David P. Bartel, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
Massachusetts Instiute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
RNA Biology, Biochemistry
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David Bartel explores how RNA molecules can act as catalysts and regulate gene expression in plant and animal cells. More
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Dorothee Kern, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA
Biochemistry
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Dorothee Kern uses biophysical analytical techniques to unravel the dynamic personality of enzymes, signaling proteins, and the molecules they affect. More
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Geraldine Seydoux, Ph.D.
Professor
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Developmental Biology
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Geraldine Seydoux uses the roundworm C. elegans as a model organism to understand how the fertilized egg makes early critical decisions that determine whether cells will become somatic body cells or germline cells that become the reproductive system. More
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Alex Kolodkin, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine (Neuroscience)
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Neuroscience
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Alex Kolodkin is learning how proteins act as “guidance cues” for growing nerves, alternately repelling and attracting growth to keep a developing nerve on the right track inside the body. More
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Susan L. Ackerman, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist
Jackson Laboratory
Bar Harbor, ME
Genetics, Neuroscience
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Susan L. Ackerman is working to identify and analyze the genes, pathways, and networks involved in age-related death of neurons in the central nervous system. More
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James Bardwell, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Genetics
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James Bardwell studies protein-folding catalysts and chaperones—the critical molecular machines that help proteins shape up. Bardwell focuses on disulfide bonds, which act like bolts or stiffening struts for folding proteins. More
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Olivier Pourquié, Ph.D.
Investigator
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Kansas City, MO
Developmental Biology
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Olivier Pourquié wants to understand the genetic and developmental mechanisms that control segmentation in vertebrates, a striking feature of the early growth of embryos that has long been thought to be a key aspect of the basic design of many animals. More
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Yi Zhang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
Genetics
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Yi Zhang works to identify and characterize mediators of the epigenetic code and the biological consequences of epigenetic regulation. More
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Michael D. Ehlers, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Neurobiology
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC
Neuroscience, Biochemistry
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Michael Ehlers is exploring how brain cells constantly adapt to their changing environment, maintaining neuronal contact sites and storing information at a molecular level. His goal is to understand how cellular processes that emerged in simpler cells work in the scaled-up, specialized milieu of the neuron. More
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Bonnie L. Bassler, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular Biology
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
Microbiology, Genetics
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Bonnie L. Bassler studies the molecular mechanisms that bacteria use to communicate with one another, with an eye toward combating deadly bacterial diseases and understanding cell signaling in humans. More
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Scott W. Lowe, Ph.D.
Professor/Deputy Director, Cancer Center
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cold Spring Harbor, NY
Cancer Biology
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Scott Lowe studies cell death and senescence, and how cancer cells thwart them, in order to develop improved cancer treatments. More
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Gregory J. Hannon, Ph.D.
Professor
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cold Spring Harbor, NY
RNA Biology, Cancer Biology
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Gregory J. Hannon’s research program seeks to understand the biology of RNA interference and to find novel therapeutic approaches for human cancer. More
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Oliver Hobert, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
New York, NY
Neuroscience, Genetics
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Oliver Hobert studies molecular mechanisms that create and maintain cellular diversity in the nervous system. More
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Shahin Rafii, M.D.
Arthur Belfer Professor of Genetic Medicine
Cornell University Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College
New York, NY
Stem Cell Biology, Cancer Biology
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Shahin Rafii studies the role of stem and progenitor cells and their contribution to organ regeneration and to cancer and tumor growth. More
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Rafael Yuste, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
Columbia University
New York, NY
Neuroscience, Biophysics
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Rafael Yuste works to understand the cortical microcircuit, the basic element of cortex architecture. By first unraveling the dynamics of specific cortical microcircuits, and next the interactions between those circuits, he hopes to build a better understanding of how the whole cortex works. Along the way, he aims to identify potential drug targets for treating epilepsy. More
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Thomas Tuschl, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Head of the Laboratory for RNA Molecular Biology
The Rockefeller University
New York, NY
RNA Biology
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Thomas Tuschl studies the regulatory role of RNA in silencing genes, with the aim of understanding its biology, as well as applications as a research tool and treatment for genetic disease. More
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Teresa Nicolson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR
Genetics, Neuroscience
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Teresa Nicolson is interested in the mechanisms underlying hearing and is using zebrafish genetics to identify key components of the transduction apparatus responsible for hearing in vertebrates. More
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Brenda A. Schulman, Ph.D.
Associate Member
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis, TN
Biochemistry
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Brenda A. Schulman works on the mechanism of protein modification by the family of ubiquitin-related proteins. More
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Zhijian Chen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Molecular Biology
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Dallas, TX
Biochemistry, Immunology
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Zhijian “James” Chen’s work is aimed at understanding the mechanisms and pathways of ubiquitin signaling, particularly with regard to its role in immunity and cancer. More
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Michael K. Rosen, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Dalllas, TX
Structural Biology
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Michael Rosen studies how the actin cytoskeleton within cells is regulated by outside signals. More
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Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Stem Cell Biology, Developmental Biology
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Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado has established a powerful new model system to study the molecular mechanics of regeneration, using the freshwater flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea. Sánchez Alvarado’s lab has developed the molecular tools needed to reveal how regeneration works in this flatworm. More
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Erik M. Jorgensen, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Neuroscience, Genetics
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Erik M. Jorgensen uses genetics and cell biology in C. elegans to address fundamental questions about the function of neuronal synapses. More
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Fred Rieke, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Physiology and Biophysics
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Neuroscience, Biophysics
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Fred Rieke wants to know how vision works—specifically, the retina’s role in visual sensitivity and range. He also hopes to learn how visual signals in rods and cones help the eye adapt to changes in light intensity. More
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Evan E. Eichler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Genome Sciences
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Genetics, Computational Biology
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Evan Eichler focuses on the role of duplicate regions in the human genome. Using computational and experimental approaches, he investigates the architecture of these regions and their role in evolution and disease. More
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Edwin R. Chapman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Physiology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
Neuroscience
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Edwin R. Chapman is deciphering the structure and dynamics of fusion pores, key components of exocytosis. Using a broad toolkit, he has developed an experimental system that reconstitutes membrane fusion at the lab bench. More
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Howard Hughes
