James E. Rothman, Ph.D.

Fergus F. Wallace Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Executive Director of Center for High Throughput Cell Biology, Professor of Chemistry, Professor and Chair of Cell Biology
Phone: (203) 737-5293 Lab: (203) 785-5873 Fax: (203) 737-4436 e-mail: james.rothman@yale.edu Rothman Lab Website		Department of Cell Biology Yale University School of Medicine 333 Cedar Street PO Box 208002 New Haven, CT 06520-8002 <Courier Address> 333 Cedar Street SHM C-207 (Lab: SHM C-232) New Haven, CT 06510-3206

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Biographical Sketch

B.A. Yale University, 1971 Ph.D.
Harvard University, 1976
Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1976-78

Appointments
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry, Stanford Univ. (1978-81); Assoc. Prof. (tenure), Dept. of Biochemistry, Stanford Univ. (1981-84); Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry, Stanford Univ. (1984-88); E.R. Squibb Prof. of Molecular Biology, Dept. of Molecular Biology, Princeton Univ. (1988-91); Paul A. Marks Chair and Chairman, Cellular Biochemistry & Biophysics Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute (1991-2004 ); Vice Chairman, Sloan-Kettering Institute (1994-2003); Professor, Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, Columbia Univ. (2004-2008), (2004-2008); Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of Chemical Biology, 2005 -Director, Columbia Genome Center (2005-2008).

Honors and Awards
Scholar of the House in Yale College (1970 1971); Andrew W. Mellon Fellow (1979 1982); Dreyfus Fndn. Teacher Scholar (1981 1986); The Eli Lilly Award for Fundamental Res. in Biol. Chem. (1986); The Passano Young Scientist Award (1986); The Alexander Von Humboldt Awar (1989); The Heinrich Wieland Prize (1990); Member, Natl. Acad. of Sciences (1993); The Rosenstiel Award in Biomedical Sciences (1994); Fellow, Amer. Acad. Arts & Sciences (1994); The V.D. Mattia Award (1994); The Fritz Lipmann Award (1995); Member, Institute of Med., Natl. Acad. of Sciences (1995); Dr. h.c., Univ. of Regensburg (1995); Foreign Assoc., European Molec. Biol. Org'n. (1995); Mayor's Award For Excellence in Sci. & Tech. (1995); Gairdner Fndn. Internat'l. Award (1996); King Faisal Internat'l. Prize in Science (1996); The Harden Medal (1997); The Lounsbery Award, Natl. Acad. of Sciences (1997); The Feodor Lynen Award (1997); Dr. h.c., Univ. of Geneva (1997;The Heineken Prize (2000); The Otto-Warburg Medal (2001); The Lasker Award - Basic Medical Research (2002); The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2002).

Research Description

Elucidating the underlying mechanisms of vesicular transport within cells and the secretion of proteins. Projects include 1) the biochemical and biophysical mechanisms of vesicle budding and fusion; 2) cellular regulation of vesicle fusion in exocytosis and synaptic transmission; 3) structural and functional organization of the Golgi apparatus from a cellular systems view. We take an interdisciplinary approach, which includes cell-free biochemistry, single molecule biophysics, high resolution optical imaging of single events/single molecules in the cell and in cell-free formats. The overall goal is to understand transport pathways form structural mechanism to cellular physiology. The latter is facilitated by high throughput functional genomics at the cellular level (see Yale Center for High Throughput Cell Biology). We have a strong interest in new lab members who bring backgrounds in chemistry, physics, and engineering.

Selected References

• Giraudo CG, Garcia-Diaz A, Eng WS, Chen Y, Hendrickson WA, Melia TJ, Rothman JE. Alternative zippering as an on-off switch for SNARE-mediated fusion. Science. 2009 Jan 23;323(5913):512-6.
• Südhof TC, Rothman JE. Membrane fusion: grappling with SNARE and SM proteins. Science. 2009 Jan 23;323(5913):474-7.
• Shen, J., Tareste, D.C., Paumet, F., Rothman, J.E., Melia T.J., 2007. Selective Activation of Cognate SNAREpins by Sec1/Munc18 Proteins. Cell 128(1):183-95.
• Rothman, J.E. 2002. Lasker Basic Medical Research Award. The machinery and principles of vesicle transport in the cell. Nature Med 8:1059-1062.