Roger Kornberg

Roger Kornberg, the Mrs. George A. Winzer Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, is a Professor of Structural Biology and affiliated with Stanford Bio-X and the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. His research focuses on elucidating the molecular basis of gene regulation through transcription mechanisms.

• Elucidating transcription initiation via RNA polymerase II and general transcription factors
• Investigating chromatin structure-function relationships
• Structural determination of transcription machinery and nanoparticles

His recent work includes discovering a human Mediator complex homolog, atomic-resolution RNA polymerase II transcription structure determination, and chromatin remodeling mechanisms involving AT-rich DNA sequences. Publications span high-resolution structural techniques like X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy.

Roger Kornberg's scholarly contributions include studies on transcription bubble dynamics, nucleosome-free region formation, and transcription factor interactions. His laboratory has reconstituted transcription processes with purified components, advancing understanding of gene expression regulation.

• Postdoctoral Faculty Sponsor: Jingchang Liang
• Teaching: Graduate and undergraduate courses in bioengineering and structural biology
• Program Affiliation: Biophysics PhD Program and Structural Biology PhD Program