Lynne E. Maquat Explained

Birth Name:Lynne Elizabeth Maquat
Lynne Maquat
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:University of Wisconsin - Madison
University of Connecticut
Doctoral Advisor:William S. Reznikoff
Known For:RNA biology in human diseases
Awards:Gruber Prize in Genetics (2023)
Wolf Prize in Medicine (2021)
FASEB Excellence in Science Award (2018)
Wiley Prize (2018)
Gairdner Foundation International Award (2015)
William C. Rose Award (2014)
Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2011)
Field:Biochemistry
Molecular biology
Cell biology
Work Institution:University of Rochester

Lynne Elizabeth Maquat is an American biochemist and molecular biologist whose research focuses on the cellular mechanisms of human disease. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[1] the National Academy of Sciences[2] and the National Academy of Medicine.[3] She currently holds the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair and is a professor of biochemistry and biophysics, pediatrics and of oncology[4] at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Professor Maquat is also Founding Director of the Center for RNA Biology[5] and Founding Chair of Graduate Women in Science[6] at the University of Rochester.

Education

Maquat graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Connecticut; her thesis was in cell biology. She received her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin.[7]

Career and research

Maquat did postdoctoral research at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research. She has published more than 130 papers in peer-reviewed journals[8] and edited numerous books.

Lynne Elizabeth Maquat is the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair, Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics who holds concomitant appointments in pediatrics and in oncology, Founding Director of the Center for RNA Biology, and Founding Chair of Graduate Women in Science at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. After obtaining her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and undertaking post-doctoral work at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, she joined Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center before moving to the University of Rochester. Maquat's research focuses on the molecular basis of human diseases, with particular interest in mechanisms of mRNA decay. Maquat discovered nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) in human diseases in 1981 and, subsequently, the exon-junction complex (EJC) and how the EJC marks mRNAs for a quality-control “pioneer” round of protein synthesis. She also discovered Staufen-mediated mRNA decay, which mechanistically competes with NMD and, by so doing, new roles for short interspersed elements and long non-coding RNAs. Additionally, she has defined a new mechanism by which microRNAs are degraded, thereby regulating mRNAs so as to promote the cell cycle. Maquat is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2006); an elected Member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2006), the National Academy of Sciences (2011), and the National Academy of Medicine (2018); and a Batsheva de Rothschild Fellow of the Israel Academy of Sciences & Humanities (2012-3). She received the William C. Rose Award from the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (2014); a Canada Gairdner International Award (2015); the international RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Award in Service (2010) and in Science (2017); the Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science (2017); the FASEB Excellence in Science Award (2018); the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences from Rockefeller University (2018); the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Medal (2019); the Wolf Prize in Medicine from the Wolf Foundation in Israel (2021); and the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize from Harvard Medical School (2021). Maquat is well known for her efforts to promote women in science. In 2003, she founded the University of Rochester Graduate Women in Science program to address the "leaky pipeline" in science, which describes how fewer women than men who earn a Ph.D. degree in science go on to use that degree in a career.

Elected fellowships/memberships

Awards and honors

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Membership. www.amacad.org. 2017-09-22.
  2. Web site: Lynne Maquat. National Academy of Sciences Online. 2017-09-22.
  3. News: National Academy of Medicine Elects 80 New Members - National Academy of Medicine. 2017-10-16. National Academy of Medicine. 2018-01-02. en-US.
  4. Web site: Lynne Elizabeth Maquat, Ph.D. - University of Rochester Medical Center. www.urmc.rochester.edu. en. 2017-09-22.
  5. Web site: Center for RNA Biology: From Genome to Therapeutics - University of Rochester Medical Center. www.urmc.rochester.edu. en. 2017-09-22.
  6. Web site: Graduate Women In Science (GWIS) - Students - Education - University of Rochester Medical Center. www.urmc.rochester.edu. en. 2017-09-22.
  7. Web site: No Boundaries: The Spirit and Science of Lynne Maquat . Emily Boynton . Christine Roth . Rochester Medicine Magazine . 26 April 2018 . University of Rochester.
  8. Web site: Publications by Lynne Elizabeth Maquat, Ph.D. - University of Rochester Medical Center. www.urmc.rochester.edu. en. 2017-09-22.
  9. News: Lynne Maquat wins 2014 Athena award. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. 2018-10-23. en.
  10. Web site: Lynne Maquat wins 2014 Athena award. ROC. en. 2018-10-23.
  11. Web site: 2014 ASBMB Annual Awards: William C. Rose Award. www.asbmb.org. 2017-09-22.
  12. News: Index of Winners - Gairdner Foundation. Gairdner Foundation. 2017-09-22. en-US.
  13. News: Maquat named to receive Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science. Vanderbilt University. 2018-01-02. en.
  14. News: Maquat Receives Lifetime Achievement Award in Science from International RNA Society - ASCB. 2017-06-14. ASCB. 2018-10-23. en-US.
  15. News: FASEB 2018 Excellence in Science Award Recipient Announced. FASEB. 2017-09-22. en-US.
  16. Web site: The 17th Annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences Awarded for Elucidating the Mechanism of Nonsense-Mediated Messenger RNA Decay Wiley News Room – Press Releases, News, Events & Media. newsroom.wiley.com. en. 2018-02-26.
  17. Web site: IUBMB Jubilee Lecturers Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, International Union. International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. en-US. 2019-10-30.
  18. https://wolffund.org.il/2021/02/09/lynne-elizabeth-maquat/ Wolf Prize in Medicine 2021
  19. Web site: Lynne Maquat Wins Warren Alpert Foundation Prize.
  20. Web site: Workhorse Molecule at Center Stage. 2021-05-03. hms.harvard.edu. en.
  21. Web site: 2023 Gruber Genetics Prize Gruber Foundation . 2023-02-23 . gruber.yale.edu.