NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series

Colliding Ribosomes Function as a Sentinel for Cellular Distress

Rachel Green began her scientific career majoring in chemistry as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Her doctoral work was performed at Harvard in the laboratory of Jack Szostak where she studied RNA enzymes and developed methodologies for evolving RNAs in vitro. She came to the JHU School of Medicine in 1998 following post-doctoral work in Harry Noller’s lab at UC Santa Cruz where she began her work on ribosomes. Her laboratory is interested in deciphering the molecular mechanisms that are at the heart of protein synthesis and its regulation across biology.

RNA antics in viral drug resistance and host immunosuppression

The Kirkegaard laboratory deciphers the genetics of RNA viruses and their mammalian hosts, with the goal of suppressing drug resistance and excessive inflammation during viral infections.

Phage Therapy to Combat Infections by Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Increasing prevalence and severity of multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections require novel management strategies. One possible strategy is a renewed approach to ‘phage therapy,’ where these administered viruses not only kill the target bacteria, but also predictably select for phage resistance that reduces virulence and/or increases antibiotic sensitivity (evolutionary trade-offs).