Steve A. Kay, Ph.D.


Dean Steve A. Kay

DEAN

Division of Biological Sciences
Richard C. Atkinson Chair in the Biological Sciences
Professor, Section of Cell & Developmental Biology
Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry
University of California, San Diego
09.17.07 - present

EDUCATION

Ph.D., University of Bristol, United Kingdom, 1984

AWARDS & ACTIVITIES

Honma Prize for Life Sciences, 1999
Cited in Science Breakthroughs of the Year, 1998, 1999, 2002
Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2008

RESEARCH FOCUS

Almost all cellular processes fluctuate with a 24-hour periodicity, and these fluctuations are known as circadian rhythms.  The circadian biological clock controls diverse events, from the sleep-wake cycle in humans to the overall rate of photosynthesis in plants.  Many human pathologies, such as sleep disorders, are likely to result from a circadian defect, so understanding how cells generate these 24-hour rhythms will have significance for both plants and animals.  The recent discovery of homologs to clock proteins between diverse species suggests that the elucidation of clock mechanisms in model systems will have broad impact for studies in humans.  Our research team has chosen to study how circadian clocks are built inside of cells using molecular, genetic, and genomic approaches in thee model systems: mouse, Arabidopsis and Drosophila.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Michael, T.P., Mockler, T.C., Breton, G., McEntee, C., Byer, A., Trout, J.D., Hazen, S.P., Shen, R., Priest, H.D., Sullivan, C.M., Givan, S.A., M. Yanovsky, Hong, F., Kay, S.A., Chory, J. (2008) Network discovery pipeline elucidates conserved time-of-day-specific cis-regulatory modules. PLoS Genetics 4:e14.

Sawa, M., Nusinow, D.A., Kay, S.A., Imaizumi, T. (2007) FKF1 and GIGANTEA complex is required for day-length measurement in Arabidopsis.  Science 318:261-5.

Liu, A.C., Lewis, W.G., Kay, S.A. (2007) Mammalian circadian signaling networks and herapeutic targets. Nat Chem Biol. 3:630-639.

Liu, A., Welsh, D.K., Ko, C., Tran, H., Zhang, E., Priest, A., Burr, E., Singer, O., Meeker, K.,Verma, I., Doyle, F., Takahashi, J., and Kay, S.A. (2007) Intercellular coupling confers robustness against mutations in the SCN circadian clock network.  Cell 129:605-16.

Zeilinger, M.N., Farre, E.M., Taylor, S.R., Kay, S.A., Doyle III, F.J. (2006) A novel computational model of the circadian clock in Arabidopsis that incorporates PRR7 and PRR9. Molecular Systems Biology  2:58-71.

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