October 3, 2013

Intracellular receptor expert set for next Discovery Lecture

Keith Yamamoto, Ph.D., an international leader in the study of signaling and gene regulation by intracellular receptors, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 10.

Keith Yamamoto, Ph.D., an international leader in the study of signaling and gene regulation by intracellular receptors, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 10.

Keith Yamamoto, Ph.D.

His presentation, “Molecular Signal Processing: From a Steroid Hormone, to Transcriptional Regulatory Networks, to Physiology, and Back,” will begin at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall.

Yamamoto is vice chancellor for Research, executive vice dean of the School of Medicine and professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Intracellular receptors are a superfamily of cell regulators that include receptors for steroid and thyroid hormones. Hormone binding to the receptors triggers the assembly of complexes that regulate the expression of target genes. Yamamoto’s team uses a wide range of approaches in mammals, worms and yeast to explore intracellular receptor functions.

Yamamoto is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and he serves on numerous national committees focused on public and scientific policy, public support for biomedical research and science education.

His lecture is the Irwin Eskind Lecture in Biomedical Science, sponsored by the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center. For a complete schedule of the Flexner Discovery Lecture series and archived video of previous lectures, go to www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.