Dr. Michael Soniat joins Jefferson as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Dr. Soniat earned his PhD in Molecular Biophysics from the University of Texas Southwestern, where he used structural biology and biophysics to define how histones are imported into the nucleus by transport receptors during nucleosome biogenesis. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, he utilized single-molecule microscopy to directly measure the dynamic assembly of distinct repair enzymes at DNA breaks. This work provided key advances in our understanding of the regulation of the molecular machines required for efficient repair of DNA damage.

By understanding DNA repair and telomere maintenance mechanisms using single-molecule and structural biology, Dr. Soniat’s team will focus on how genome instability contributes to aging and age-related diseases, including cancer and neurodegeneration. His recent research has appeared in Molecular Cell, Science Advances, and PNAS, and his laboratory has received funding through a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institute of Aging.  Dr. Soniat joins Jefferson’s expanding team of investigators exploring DNA damage and repair mechanisms, which also includes Drs. Pluciennik, Pomerantz, Schiewer and Silver, among others.

Jefferson Alumni Hall
1020 Locust Street, Room 425D
Philadelphia, PA 19107

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