Speaker Biography
“The Molecular Basis of Eukaryotic Transcription” Watch Video
A Stanford University biochemist, Roger Kornberg was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his fundamental studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription - the process by which DNA is copied. Kornberg's 1974 discovery of the nucleosome - the basic protein-complex packaging of chromosomal DNA in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells - marked the beginning of his work on DNA. Coupled with his most recent discovery of "The Mediator" protein complex, Kornberg's impressive program of research has added substantially to the understanding of the mechanisms and regulation of eukaryotic transcription.
Dr. Kornberg received his B.A. in Chemistry from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Stanford University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England before joining the Stanford faculty. He has since co-founded Stanford’s Department of Structural Biology, the first of its kind in the United States. In 1993 he was elected to membership of the National Academy of Sciences.
In addition to the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Dr. Kornberg is the recipient of numerous scientific awards, including the 2006 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, the 2002 Léopold Mayer Prize - the highest award in biomedical sciences granted by the French Academy of Science - and the 2001 Welch prize, among the most prestigious awards available to U.S. chemists.