People
Biography
Ph.D. Yale University (1997)
Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Santa Cruz (1998-1999)
Associate Member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Assistant Professor of Biology, MIT (1999-2001)
University of California, Berkeley, Professor in Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology
Faculty Scientist, Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Member
American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member
Jamie Cate, Principal Investigator
Jamie is interested in protein synthesis and solving structures through Cryo-EM.
Research Interests include: Structural Biology, Biophysical Chemistry and Systems Biology, The mechanisms of the regulation of human translation, bacterial protein synthesis, and fungal growth on plant biomass are being probed by cryo-EM, x-ray crystallography, biophysical chemistry, genomics, proteomics, and enzymology.
Protein synthesis is the universal mechanism for translating the genetic code into cellular function. The machine that carries out translation is the ribosome, a large RNA-protein complex whose structure is highly conserved in all kingdoms of life. Ribosomes, which are over 21 nm in diameter, interact with several different ligands and cofactors, including messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and proteins involved in the initiation, elongation, and termination of protein synthesis. Ribosomes are also dynamic entities; the small and large ribosomal subunits associate and dissociate during one full cycle of protein synthesis. We are exploring the process of protein synthesis by the ribosome. Key questions about the fundamental nature of translation remain unanswered.
Email: j-h-doudna-cate@berkeley.edu
Postdoctoral Scholars
Pooja Mukherjee
Pooja is interested in miRNA mediated translation in T cells.
Ph.D. University of Strasbourg (2019)
mukherjp@berkeley.edu
Nikolay (Kolya) Aleksashin
Kolya is interested in context specific attenuation of human translation by small molecules.
Ph.D. University of Illinois - Chicago (2019)
aleksashin@berkeley.edu
Chandrima Majumdar
Chandrima is interested in synthetic biology of the ribosome, specifically for the generation of sequence defined polymers with non natural amino acids.
Ph.D. University of California, Davis (2020)
cmajumdar@berkeley.edu
Alexandra Kent
Alexandra is interested in the synthetic biology of the ribosome and translation regulation.
Ph.D. University of California, Irvine (2021)
alexandra.kent@berkeley.edu
Kate Shulgina
Kate is interested in engineering the decoding center of the ribosome and studying translation in non-model microbes.
Ph.D. Harvard University (2022)
shulgina@berkeley.edu
Conner Langeberg
Ph.D. University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus (2023)
conner.langeberg@berkeley.edu
Yumi Koga
Yumi is interested in the mechanism of mRNA-specific translation regulation by eIF3.
Ph.D. Harvard University (2024)
yumi_koga@berkeley.edu
Graduate Students
Erica Pledger
Erica is interested in understanding the translational regulation of the T-cell receptor
B.S. University of Oregon (2019)
ep@berkeley.edu
Kristina Boyko
Kristina is interested in phage translation and synthetic biology of the ribosome.
B.S. Western Washington University (2020)
kristina_boyko@berkeley.edu
Amos Nissley
Amos is interested in studying the synthetic biology of the ribosome with cryoEM.
B.S. University of Michigan (2020)
nissley@berkeley.edu
Cynthia Hermosillo
B. A. University of California, Berkeley (2019)
cynthia1683@berkeley.edu
Junior Specialists
Navya Ambavaram
Navya is assisting Erica in investigating TCR regulation.
nambavaram@berkeley.edu
Undergraduate Researchers
Rohan Shelke
Rohan is working with Kolya in Ribosome Nascent Chain projects.
rshelke@berkeley.edu
Niam Edralin
Niam is working with Pooja on the translational control of T-Cell activation and how it is mediated by interactions between miRNAs and eIF3.
nedralin4@berkeley.edu
Cathy Zhu
Cathy is working with Chandrima on the synthetic biology of the ribosome.
cathyzhu@berkeley.edu
Katie Fitzgerald
Katie is working with Alexandra on the synthetic biology of the ribosome.
katiefitz9@berkeley.edu
Tianhao Yin
Tianhao is working with Kolya on programmed ribosome frameshifting.
tianhaoyin2025@berkeley.edu
Rebecca Bernstein
Rebecca is working with Kristina on orthogonal ribosomes.
rebeccabernstein@berkeley.edu