Yale’s Steitz to speak at VUMC
Joan Steitz, Ph.D., whose work has helped reveal the role of RNA-protein complexes in gene expression, will deliver the next Discovery Lecture on Nov. 12.
Steitz is Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale School of Medicine, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator.
Joan Steitz, Ph.D.
Her lecture, sponsored by the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, is entitled “Regulating the Activity of MicroRNAs in Vertebrate Cells.” It will begin at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall.
Steitz earned her degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard in 1967.
She was the first female graduate student to work under the guidance of James Watson, Ph.D., co-discoverer of the DNA double helix.
According to the HHMI, Steitz is best known for discovering and defining the function of small nuclear ribonucleoproteins that occur only in higher cells and organisms. These RNA-protein complexes play a key role in splicing pre-messenger RNA, the earliest product of transcription (DNA to RNA).
More recently, she has been studying tiny regulatory RNAs called microRNAs. They also bind proteins, but control translation (RNA to protein) in the cytoplasm.
For a complete schedule of the Discovery Lecture series and archived video of previous lectures, go to http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.