A Rosenstiel Award for Dr. Robert Singer
Robert H. Singer, Ph.D., professor and co-chair of anatomy and structural biology, has received the 51st Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research from Brandeis University for his key role in revealing the dynamics of gene expression using high-resolution imaging.
Robert Singer, Ph.D., winner of the 51st Rosenstiel Award
Established in 1971, the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research is given annually based on recommendations of a panel of scientists appointed by the director of the Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center at Brandeis University. The panel recognized Dr. Singer for developing highly sensitive and quantitative methods to explore the regulation of gene expression. His work has enabled researchers to visualize and characterize gene expression at single-molecule resolution and to follow the subcellular choreography of diverse messenger RNAs "from cradle to grave"—from its transcription to its translation to its degradation.
His methods include the fluorescent version of in situ hybridization (FISH) and then its dramatic improvement: single-molecule FISH (smFISH) to detect and count individual RNA molecules in particular cell types.
The widely used stem-loop technique for tracking mRNA in living cells has revealed the sites of their transcription on chromosomes, their processing in the nucleus, and their export and localization in the cytoplasm where they are translated into protein. Dr. Singer's work has shown that some messages carry localization signals to specify in which subcellular compartment their translation occurs, for example in terminals of axons and dendrites of nerve cells, far from the nucleus. In short, Dr. Singer's contribution to quantitative in situ transcriptomics has been of central importance to understanding many aspects of cell and developmental biology.
Dr. Singer will present an award lecture at Brandeis on April 6, 2022. He also is professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience and of cell biology co-director of the Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center and of the Integrated Imaging Program, and holds the Harold and Muriel Block Chair in Anatomy and Structural Biology at Einstein.
Thirty-eight of 92 Rosenstiel Award winners have subsequently been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology or in Chemistry. A full list of awardees can be found on the Rosenstiel Award website.
Posted on: Tuesday, November 02, 2021