Emma A. Morrison

Dr. Emma A. Morrison is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She maintains dual affiliations with the Cancer Center and the Cardiovascular Research Center, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of her work that bridges fundamental chromatin biochemistry with disease applications.

Dr. Morrison's research focuses on chromatin structure and dynamics, with particular emphasis on histone modifications and nucleosome organization. Her work investigates how histone H3 and H4 tails influence nucleosome phase separation and condensate formation, revealing fundamental mechanisms of chromatin organization. She also studies chromatin reader domains, including PHD fingers and bromodomains, and their roles in epigenetic regulation. A significant portion of her research applies these molecular insights to cancer biology, particularly neuroendocrine prostate cancer progression through RNA splicing mechanisms.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications shows a consistent focus on chromatin structure-function relationships, with increasing attention to phase separation phenomena in recent years. Her work spans from fundamental biophysical investigations of nucleosome dynamics to translational research in cancer mechanisms, demonstrating both depth in biochemical mechanisms and breadth in biological applications.

Dr. Morrison has developed specialized methodologies for nucleosome reconstitution and analysis, contributing to the technical toolkit available to chromatin researchers. Her work on the EmrE multidrug transporter earlier in her career established important principles of membrane transport that remain relevant to understanding drug resistance mechanisms.

Her research program demonstrates a productive trajectory with publications in high-impact journals including Nature, PNAS, Nature Communications, and European Urology. Several of her papers have received substantial citations, indicating significant impact in the fields of chromatin biology and molecular biochemistry.