Juli Feigon

Dr. Juli Feigon is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA's College of Letters and Science, where she has been a faculty member since 1985. Her research focuses on the structure and function of nucleic acids using multidimensional NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and cryo-EM to study telomerase, riboswitches, and RNA-protein complexes. As a member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of numerous prestigious awards, she has established herself as a leader in structural biology of nucleic acids.

Dr. Feigon received her B.A. from Occidental College and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego where she studied with Dr. David Kearns. Her postdoctoral work was completed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Fund Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Alex Rich.

Dr. Feigon's laboratory studies nucleic acid structure and function with emphasis on telomerase structure and mechanism, H/ACA RNPs biogenesis, and riboswitch dynamics. Her group uses NMR spectroscopy as a primary tool, complemented by X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, and biochemical methods to understand how RNA and RNA-protein complexes function in the cell and how mutations can lead to disease. Current research focuses on structure, function, dynamics, assembly, and folding of human telomerase, Tetrahymena telomerase, riboswitches, H/ACA RNPs, and other noncoding RNAs.

Analysis of Dr. Feigon's recent publications reveals a progression from fundamental RNA structure studies to increasingly complex biological systems. Her work has evolved from isolated RNA domains to full complexes and holoenzymes, with growing integration of multiple structural biology techniques. While maintaining her core focus on telomerase structure, her research has expanded to include connections to human diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative conditions, demonstrating the broad applicability of her structural insights.

• Member, National Academy of Sciences (2009)
• Glenn T. Seaborg Medal (2024)
• Herbert Newby McCoy Award (2022)
• Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award from Protein Society (2017)
• Founders Award from the Biophysical Society (2019)
• Presidential Young Investigator, National Science Foundation (1989-1994)
• Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher/Scholar Award (1990)

Dr. Feigon has mentored numerous postdoctoral fellows and graduate students who have gone on to independent positions at institutions worldwide. Her laboratory has been exceptionally successful in securing postdoctoral fellowships for its members, including American Heart Association, NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein, and Life Sciences Research Foundation awards. She established the 'Juli Feigon Helping Hands Award' to support postdoctoral fellows, research staff, and graduate students who are primary caregivers for dependent children or other family members, with matching funds from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

The Feigon Laboratory maintains state-of-the-art NMR facilities including an 800MHz Bruker Avance with TCI cryoprobe, 600MHz with TXI cryoprobe, and two 500MHz spectrometers. The lab collaborates extensively with UCLA's DOE shared facilities for crystallization, protein expression, and X-ray/EM structure determination, as well as the EICN EM facility featuring Titan Krios and other advanced electron microscopy equipment. Her research group continues to investigate the structure, function, dynamics, assembly, and folding of telomerase and other non-coding RNA complexes.