Title: Mechanisms of vertebrate DNA replication and repair

Presenter: Prof. Johannes Walter

University: Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Time: 9:30-11:00, October 23, 2014

Venue: Room A102, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Abstract: Professor Johannes Walter obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University in 1995. Then he joined Dr. John Newport’s lab at University of California, San Diego for his postdoctoral training. In 1999, Dr. Walter took a faculty position in the Department of Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School. He became an AAAS fellow in 2008 and an Investigator of Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 2013. Dr. Walter was honored with the Burroughs Wellcome Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences, William F. Milton Award, Giovanni-Armenise Foundation Award, Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar and Harvard Medical School Graduate Teaching Award for his excellent research and teaching. He is on the editorial boards of eLIFE and Genes&Development.

Professor Johannes Walter studies how vertebrate cells faithfully copy their genomes in S phase. He developed a powerful cell-free system derived from Xenopus eggs to understand the molecular machines that replicate DNA, the mechanisms by which they overcome DNA damage in the template strands, and the roles of tumor suppressor pathways in promoting DNA repair. Most recently, he has begun to probe the dynamics of DNA replication and repair with single-molecule analysis.