Scott Strobel

Scott A. Strobel
Nationality American
Fields Biochemistry
Institutions Yale University
Alma mater Brigham Young University, California Institute of Technology, University of Colorado, Boulder
Doctoral advisor Peter Dervan
Other academic advisors Thomas Cech
Known for Rainforest Expedition Lab

Scott A. Strobel Ph.D. is the Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and the vice-president of West Campus Planning and Program Development. He has been a Professor with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) since 2006. He earned his B.A. in Biochemistry from Brigham Young University and his Ph.D. in biology from the California Institute of Technology under the guidance of Peter Dervan before doing his postdoctoral research at the University of Colorado, Boulder under the mentorship of Thomas Cech.

His lab focuses on the biophysics and biochemistry of catalytic RNAs including riboswitches and the peptidyl transferase center. His group developed the early methods of Nucleotide Analog Interference Mapping used to determine the importance of particular functional groups in a structured RNA molecule.[1] Strobel's group solved the x-ray crystal structure of the full length Azoarcus Group I catalytic intron (PDB entries 1U6B, 1ZZN, 3BO2),[2][3] the glmS ribozyme (e.g., PDB 3G9C),[4] and the c-di-GMP riboswitch (e.g., PDB 3IRW, 3Q3Z).[5] He has also collaborated with the Steitz lab at Yale on structural studies toward better understanding the mechanism of ribosomal peptide synthesis.[6]

He joined the Yale faculty in 1995 and became a full professor in 2001. He chaired the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from 2006-2009 before being appointed Vice-President in 2011. As a Professor with HHMI, and as a natural follow-on from the work of his father Gary Strobel, he teaches an undergraduate Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory (REAL) which takes a group of students into the rainforest over spring break to hunt for novel endophytes that live inside plants. Following the fieldwork, the students isolate the microbes and test them for interesting properties. The students in the course have discovered a variety of organisms including a novel fungus, Pestalotiopsis microspora which degrades polyurethane.[7][8]

He was a Searle Scholar, a Beckman Young Investigator and American Cancer Society Beginning Investigator. In 2004 he was awarded the Dylan Hixon Prize for teaching excellence in the Natural Sciences by Yale College and in 2007 he received the Graduate Mentoring award from the Yale Graduate School. In 2008 he received the Schering Plough Research Institute award from the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In 2009 he was named a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow by the Office of Naval Research.[9]

Personal

Strobel and his wife Lynnette and son Benjamin run a small hobby business, Yale Bowls, crafting remnants of historic Yale trees into various woodturned items. [10]

External links

References

  1. ↑ Strobel SA, Shetty K (1997). "Defining the chemical groups essential for Tetrahymena group I intron function by nucleotide analog interference mapping". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 94: 2903–2908. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.7.2903. PMC 20295. PMID 9096319.
  2. ↑ "Yale Scientists Visualize Molecular Detail Of RNA Splicing Complex" (June 3, 2004). ScienceDaily Retrieved October 16, 2012
  3. ↑ Adams PL, Stahley MR, Kosek AB, Wang J, Strobel SA (2004). "Crystal Structure of a Self-Splicing Group I Intron with Both Exons". Nature 430: 45–50. doi:10.1038/nature02642.
  4. ↑ Cochrane JC, Lipchock SV, Smith KD, Strobel SA (2009). "Structural and chemical basis for glucosamine 6-phosphate binding and activation of the glmS ribozyme". Biochemistry 48: 3239–3246. doi:10.1021/bi802069p. PMC 2854835. PMID 19228039.
  5. ↑ Smith KD, Lipchock SV, Ames TD, Wang J, Breaker RR, Strobel SA (2009). "Structural basis of ligand binding by a c-di-GMP riboswitch". Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 16: 1218–1223. doi:10.1038/nsmb.1702. PMC 2850612. PMID 19898477.
  6. ↑ Schmeing TM, Huang KS, Strobel SA, Steitz TA (200). "An induced-fit mechanism to promote peptide bond formation and exclude hydrolysis of peptidyl-tRNA". Nature 438: 520–524. doi:10.1038/nature04152.
  7. ↑ Russell, JR; Huang, J; Anand, P; Kucera, K; Sandoval, AG; Dantzler, KW; Hickman, D; Jee, J; Kimovec, FM; Koppstein, D; Marks, DH; Mittermiller, PA; Núñez, SJ; Santiago, M; Townes, MA; Vishnevetsky, M; Williams, NE; Vargas, MP; Boulanger, LA; Bascom-Slack, C; Strobel, SA (September 2011). "Biodegradation of polyester polyurethane by endophytic fungi.". Applied and environmental microbiology 77 (17): 6076–84. doi:10.1128/AEM.00521-11. PMC 3165411. PMID 21764951.
  8. ↑ Arnaud, Celia (10 November 2008). "Into The Woods". C&EN. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  9. ↑ "Scott Strobel Is Designated as the Henry Ford II Professor". Yale News. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  10. ↑ Gasso, Jordi (11 October 2010). "Prof. branches out with Yale Bowls". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 24 September 2012.