ICKSMCB 2020 / 2020 International Conference of the Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology / September 17(Mon)-19(Wed), 2020 / COEX, Seoul, Korea

Plenary Lectures

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Plenary Lecture ¥° October 5 (Mon), 15:50-16:40, Channel A

David_Agard

Function of transcriptional coactivators in hematopoietic malignancies

Robert G. Roeder, Ph.D.
Rockefeller University, USA
Organizer & Chair: Jaehoon Kim, Ph.D. (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea)


Robert G. Roeder is currently the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The Rockefeller University. He was previously the James S. McDonnell Professor of Biochemical Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine. He is renowned for his biochemical studies of the mechanism and regulation of eukaryotic transcription. His seminal contributions, extending over five decades, include the discovery and subsequent functional and mechanistic characterization of nuclear RNA polymerases (I, II, and III), cognate classes of RNA polymerase-specific initiation factors, the first of several thousand gene- and cell-specific transcriptional activators, and a variety of ubiquitous and tissue-specific transcriptional co-activators. More recently, his integrated biochemical studies of histone acetyl and methyl transferases in defined cell-free systems have provided formal proof for their function through histone modifications, underlying mechanisms, and complementary functions in the direct modification of transcription factors. Dr. Roeder's current interests include transcriptional regulation by tumor suppressor p53, nuclear hormone receptors, B cell-specific factors and leukemic fusion proteins.

Dr. Roeder's seminal contributions have been recognized by numerous awards that include: U.S. National Academy of Sciences, European Molecular Biology Organization (foreign member), Eli Lilly Award of the American Chemical Society, National Academy of Sciences-US Steel Award in Molecular Biology, Lewis S. Rosensteil Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Sciences, Passano Award, General Motors Cancer Research Foundation's Alfred P. Sloan Prize, Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, Gairdner Foundation International Award, Dickson Prize, ASBMB Merck Award, ASBMB Herbert Tabor Award, Albert Lasker Award in Basic Medical Research, Salk Institute Medal for Research Excellence, Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, Shizhang Bai International Award of the Biophysical Society of China.

Plenary Lecture ¥± October 6 (Tue), 11:20-12:10, Channel A


Transcription polymerase–catalyzed emergence of novel RNA replicons

Andrew Z. Fire, Ph.D.
Stanford University, USA
*2006 Nobel Laureate
Organizers: Joohong Ahnn, Ph.D. (Hanyang University, Korea)
Kwangseog Ahn, Ph.D. (Seoul National University, Korea)
Chair: Joohong Ahnn, Ph.D. (Hanyang University, Korea)


Andrew Fire is George D. Smith Professor in Molecular and Genetic Medicine and Professor of Pathology and of Genetics at Stanford University. At the age of 19, he received his Bachelor¡¯s degree in Mathematics from UC Berkeley in 1978, then his Ph.D. in Biology from MIT in 1983 under the menotoship of Phillip Sharp, a 1993 Nobel laureate molecular biologist. Fire was Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow at the MRC laboratory of Molecular Biology group headed by Sydney Brenner, a 2002 Nobel laureate geneticist, and in 1986 he joined Carnegie Institution of Washington¡¯s Department of Embryology in Baltimore, Maryland, where the initial work of RNA interference was carried out and published in 1998. He was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of RNAi, a gene silencing process triggered by double-stranded RNAs, which completely revolutionize the whole new field in Biology since then. Fire is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and also serves on the Board of Scientific Counselors and the National center for Biotechnology, NIH.

Plenary Lecture ¥² October 6 (Tue), 14:20-15:10, Channel A

Functional Divergence of Ancient Protein Synthesis Enzymes: Is There an End?

Sunghoon Kim, Ph.D.
Yonsei University, Korea
Organizer & Chair: Jin Won Cho, Ph.D. (Yonsei University, Korea)


Dr. Sunghoon Kim is a Horace G. Underwood distinguished professor at Yonsei University. He received bachelor's degree at Seoul National Univeristy, master's degree at KAIST and PhD degree at Brown University. He worked at MIT as a post-doctoral fellow. Since then, he was a professor at Sungkyunkwan university and Seoul National University.
He is considered as a pioneer who opened the new research field of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs). While ARSs have been considered as ancient enzymes dedicated as "gene decoder" for protein synthesis, his research brought a new perspective on these enzymes as multi-functional system regulators beyond protein synthesis. He not only unsealed a new area in basic research of ARSs, but also translated the basic discoveries to diverse biomedical applications. His discoveries and inventions in basic research have contributed to several therapeutic and diagnostic pipelines using human tRNA synthetases that are currently under preclinical and clinical development. He has published over 200 research articles at top-notched journals and related patents. With many achievements in basic and biomedical research fields, he received numerous awards such as Ho-Am Prize in Medicine, National Science Award and Korean National Academy's Award. He is also actively serving the global research community as the meeting chairs, journal editors and keynote speakers.

Plenary Lecture ¥³ October 7 (Wed), 11:20-12:10, Channel A

Joseph Takahashi

Circadian Clocks and their Impact on Metabolism, Aging and Longevity

Joseph S. Takahashi, Ph.D.
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA
Organizer & Chair : Tae-Kyung Kim, Ph.D. (Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea)


Joseph S. Takahashi, Ph.D. is the Loyd B. Sands Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience, an Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Dr. Takahashi joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2009, and prior to that was a faculty member in the Department of Neurobiology at Northwestern University from 1983 to 2009. Dr. Takahashi utilizes forward genetics and positional cloning in the mouse as a tool for discovery of genes underlying neurobiology and behavior, and his discovery of the mouse and human clock genes led to a description of a conserved circadian clock mechanism in animals. He is the author of more than 300 scientific publications and the recipient of many awards including the Honma International Prize in Biological Rhythms Research in 1986, W. Alden Spencer Award in Neuroscience from Columbia University in 2001, Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award from the Sleep Research Society in 2012, and the Gruber Neuroscience Prize in 2019. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000, a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2003, and a Member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2014.