Juli Feigon

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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[edit]

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.[1]

Academic career[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Juli Feigon". The Feigon Laboratory, UCLA. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b "New Helping Hands Award established – UCLA". web.archive.org. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Feigon, Juli". UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Juli Feigon". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Juli Feigon to Receive 2019 BPS Founders Award". Biophysical Society. Biophysical Society. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  6. ^ Jiang, J; Wang, Y; Sušac, L; Chan, H; Basu, R; Zhou, ZH; Feigon, J (17 May 2018). "Structure of Telomerase with Telomeric DNA". Cell. 173 (5): 1179–1190.e13. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2018.04.038. PMC 5995583. PMID 29775593.
  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 (30 October 2015). "Structure of Tetrahymena telomerase reveals previously unknown subunits, functions, and interactions". Science. 350 (6260): aab4070. doi:10.1126/science.aab4070. PMC 4687456. PMID 26472759.
  8. ^ Zhang, Q; Kim, NK; Feigon, J (20 December 2011). "Architecture of human telomerase RNA". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 108 (51): 20325–32. Bibcode:2011PNAS..10820325Z. doi:10.1073/pnas.1100279108. PMC 3251123. PMID 21844345.
  9. ^ Theimer, CA; Blois, CA; Feigon, J (4 March 2005). "Structure of the human telomerase RNA pseudoknot reveals conserved tertiary interactions essential for function". Molecular Cell. 17 (5): 671–82. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2005.01.017. PMID 15749017.
  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. 593 (7859): 454–459. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03529-9. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 8857963. PMID 33981033.