Barbara Meyer - F1000 Section Head (since 18 July 2001)
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
BIOGRAPHY
ACADEMIC POSITIONS:• Professor of Genetics and Development, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
EDUCATION AND BACKGROUND:
Barbara J Meyer received her BA degree in biology from Stanford University and her PhD degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard University, where she studied with Mark Ptashne. Her postdoctoral work with Sydney Brenner was conducted at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. Prior to joining the faculty at University of California, Berkeley and becoming an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Barbara was a tenured faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
MEMBERSHIPS:
She is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Microbiology.
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Our research addresses basic aspects of chromosome dynamics and development using the nematode C. elegans: how chromosomes fold and align to achieve proper segregation; how gene expression is coordinately regulated across the entire X chromosome; how choices are made between alternative cell fates; how regulatory gene hierarchies control developmental decisions. Our studies of X-chromosome-wide gene expression through the process of dosage compensation have revealed a mechanistic link between higher-order chromatin structure and chromosome segregation during meiosis and mitosis. These studies have led to an analysis of chromosome structure and crossover control during meiosis and macromolecular structures called kinetochores that attach and move chromosomes within the spindle during chromosome segregation. Our studies of nematode sex determination reveal mechanisms by which chromosome number is counted and developmental pathways switched on or off. This work has strong implications for evolution.