Organizers

Nature Chemical Biology Annual Symposium: The Chemical Biology of the Cell

Terry Sheppard (Editor, Nature Chemical Biology)

Before assuming the Editorship of Nature Chemical Biology, Terry spent 6 years at Northwestern University's Department of Chemistry, where he developed an independent program in nucleic acid chemical biology, which included investigations of oxidative DNA damage and repair, template-directed synthesis, and nucleoside therapeutics. This followed his appointment as a NASA postdoctoral fellow with Gerald F. Joyce at The Scripps Research Institute, where he discovered, using in vitro evolution, a "DNA enzyme" that catalyzed DNA depurination and strand cleavage. Terry completed his Ph.D. in organic chemistry with Ronald Breslow at Columbia University in 1995, where he synthesized 2',5'-linked DNA and evaluated its promise for antisense therapeutic applications.

Joanne Kotz (Associate Editor, Nature Chemical Biology)

Prior to joining Nature Chemical Biology, Joanne undertook industry-based postdoctoral research at Genentech, working with Andrea Cochran, where her research focused on developing combinatorial methods to study protein stability and using chemical tools to investigate the biological role of a mitotic kinase. This followed postdoctoral research in bacterial pathogenesis with Xavier Nassif at the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris. Joanne obtained her PhD in 2000 from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied enzyme mechanism in copper amine oxidases with Judith Klinman.

Mirella Bucci (Associate Editor, Nature Chemical Biology)

Before joining Nature Chemical Biology, Mirella spent 3 years working in editorial and science writing positions, including an editorial position at Nature. Her research in molecular cell biology took her to Washington University, where she worked as a graduate student with Susan Wente studying the dynamics of nuclear pore complexes. She went on to Stanford University, where as a postdoctoral fellow she studied protein folding and protein aggregation in the context of several neurodegenerative diseases with Ron Kopito. Mirella completed her undergraduate degree in chemistry and biology at Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied with Robert Murphy at CMU's Molecular Biosensor and Imaging Center.

Catherine Goodman (Assistant Editor, Nature Chemical Biology)

Before joining the team at Nature Chemical Biology, Catherine worked as an NIH postdoctoral fellow with Bill DeGrado at the University of Pennsylvania, where she focused on the structural design of non-natural and transmembrane peptides. This followed a PhD obtained under the guidance of Vince Rotello at the University of Massachusetts, where her research included biomimetic investigations of flavin cofactors as well as development of DNA-binding nanoparticles. Catherine started her scientific career at Rice University synthesizing modified DNA nucleotides for Scott Singleton.