The rockefeller university

Event Details

Type

Friday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Tom A. Rapoport, Ph.D., professor, department of cell biology, Harvard Medical School; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Speaker bio(s)

How is the characteristic shape of a membrane-bound organelle achieved? Dr. Rapoport’s laboratory has addressed the mechanism for the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), an organelle at which many proteins are synthesized, including secretory and plasma membrane proteins. The ER consists of different domains, the nuclear envelope and the peripheral ER that contains a tubular network with interdispersed sheets. How these domains are generated has been mysterious. Dr. Rapoport’s laboratory has discovered proteins that shape the tubules and others that allow them to fuse to form a network. They also found mechanisms by which the sheets are generated and discovered that sheets are stacked on top of each other in a manner that resembles a parking garage.

 

Dr. Rapoport received his Ph.D. in chemistry and biochemistry from the Humboldt University of Berlin in 1972. Before joining the faculty of Harvard Medical School in 1995, he was at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, where he served as professor of cell biology and group leader. He became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in 1997. Dr. Rapoport is the recipient of several awards, including the Max Delbrück Medal in 2005, the Sir Hans Krebs Medal in 2007, and the Van Deenen Medal in 2010. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Open to

Public

Host

Leslie Vosshall, Ph.D.

Reception

Refreshments, 3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., Abby Lounge

Contact

Linda Hanssler

Phone

(212) 327-7714

Sponsor

Linda Hanssler
(212) 327-7714
lhanssler@rockefeller.edu

Readings

http://librarynews.rockefeller.edu/?p=4091