John L. Woolford, Jr.

John L. Woolford, Jr. is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, affiliated with the Mellon College of Science. He co-directs the C-NAST (Center for Nucleolar Structure and Assembly Technology) and leads research on ribosome biogenesis in eukaryotes, using yeast as a model organism. His work integrates molecular biology, genomics, and proteomics to study ribosome assembly mechanisms.

Education: Ph.D. from Duke University, followed by a postdoctoral appointment at Brandeis University.

Research focuses on understanding the assembly of ribosomal subunits in the nucleolus, including RNA processing, protein interactions, and the role of ribosome biogenesis in cell growth. Recent studies explore how nucleolar condensates influence ribosome maturation and subunit export.

Key contributions include identifying non-ribosomal proteins essential for assembly and uncovering links between ribosome synthesis and cellular proliferation. His lab’s tools enable detailed analysis of ribosome assembly intermediates.

Labs/Teams: Woolford Lab at Carnegie Mellon (website linked).