Winzer Professor in Medicine
Professor of Structural Biology at Stanford University
Member of the American Academy of Sciences
Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Winner of Welch Prize
Winner of Leopold Mayer Prize
Biography:
Roger Kornberg is Winzer Professor in Medicine and Professor of Structural Biology at Stanford University. His first research was on the dynamics of lipid bilayers. He used nuclear and electron paramagnetic resonance to determine the rates of diffusional motions of lipids, termed flip-flop and lateral diffusion. He then turned to X-ray diffraction of chromatin and, in 1974, proposed the existence and structure of the nucleosome. This proposal was borne out in detail by subsequent structural studies. Kornberg moved to his present position in 1978, where his research has focused on the mechanism and regulation of eukaryotic gene transcription. Results of this research include the near atomic structure of RNA polymerase II, the elucidation of the RNA polymerase II transcription machinery, and the discovery of the Mediator of transcriptional regulation. Parallel studies of metal clusters have included atomic structures large gold nanoparticles by X-ray crystallography and aberration-corrected electron microscopy. Kornberg has received many awards, including the Welch Prize (2001), the highest award in chemistry in the United States, the Leopold Mayer Prize (2002), the highest award in biomedical sciences of the French Academy of Sciences, and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (unshared, 2006). He is a member of national academies in the US and Europe and a recipient of honorary degrees from universities in Europe and Israel.