Juli Feigon Explained

Juli Feigon is a Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she has been a faculty member since 1985. She was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2009. Her research focuses on structural studies of nucleic acids by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy along with other biophysical techniques.^[1]

Education

After completing undergraduate studies at Occidental College, Feigon received her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 1982. She then worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Alexander Rich at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1982-85.

Academic career

Feigon joined the faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA in 1985 as the first female assistant professor in the department.^[2] She was a recipient of the National Science Foundation's Presidential Young Investigator Award, awarded in 1989. She became a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2002 and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2009.^{[3] [4]} She has won the 2019 BPS Founders Award.^[5] In 2024, Feigon was awarded the Glenn T. Seaborg Medal.

Research

Feigon's research specializes in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) studies of the structure and dynamics of nucleic acids. Her research group has invested significant effort in determining the structure of telomerase, using NMR, X-ray crystallography, and more recently cryo-electron microscopy.^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}

Helping Hands Award

In 2024, Juli Feigon established the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Juli Feigon Helping Hands Award. The Juli Feigon Helping Hands Award is an annual award for postdoctoral fellows, research staff, and graduate students who are primary caregivers for dependent children or other family members, to provide extra time and resources to pursue their scientific careers.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Juli Feigon. The Feigon Laboratory, UCLA. 25 January 2016.
2. Web site: 2024-05-22 . New Helping Hands Award established – UCLA . 2024-05-22 . web.archive.org.
3. Web site: Feigon, Juli. UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry. 25 January 2016.
4. Web site: Juli Feigon. National Academy of Sciences. 25 January 2016.
5. Web site: Juli Feigon to Receive 2019 BPS Founders Award . Biophysical Society . Biophysical Society . 6 November 2018.
6. Jiang . J . Wang . Y . Sušac . L . Chan . H . Basu . R . Zhou . ZH . Feigon . J . Structure of Telomerase with Telomeric DNA. . Cell . 17 May 2018 . 173 . 5 . 1179–1190.e13 . 10.1016/j.cell.2018.04.038 . 29775593 . 5995583.
7. Jiang. J. Chan. H. Cash. DD. Miracco. EJ. Ogorzalek Loo. RR. Upton. HE. Cascio. D. O'Brien Johnson. R. Collins. K. Loo. JA. Zhou. ZH. Feigon. J. Structure of Tetrahymena telomerase reveals previously unknown subunits, functions, and interactions.. Science. 30 October 2015. 350. 6260. aab4070. 26472759. 10.1126/science.aab4070. 4687456.
8. Zhang. Q. Kim. NK. Feigon. J. Architecture of human telomerase RNA.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 20 December 2011. 108. 51. 20325–32. 21844345. 10.1073/pnas.1100279108. 3251123. 2011PNAS..10820325Z. free.
9. Theimer. CA. Blois. CA. Feigon. J. Structure of the human telomerase RNA pseudoknot reveals conserved tertiary interactions essential for function.. Molecular Cell. 4 March 2005. 17. 5. 671–82. 15749017. 10.1016/j.molcel.2005.01.017. free.
10. He . Yao . Wang . Yaqiang . Liu . Baocheng . Helmling . Christina . Sušac . Lukas . Cheng . Ryan . Zhou . Z. Hong . Feigon . Juli . May 2021 . Structures of telomerase at several steps of telomere repeat synthesis . Nature . en . 593 . 7859 . 454–459 . 10.1038/s41586-021-03529-9 . 1476-4687 . 8857963 . 33981033.