Song Tan

Song Tan is the Verne M. Willaman Professor of Molecular Biology at Penn State University's Eberly College of Science, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He directs the Center for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation. His research focuses on understanding how chromatin enzymes and factors interact with nucleosomes to regulate gene expression, utilizing structural biology techniques like cryoelectron microscopy and X-ray crystallography. Key contributions include pioneering studies on chromatin protein/nucleosome complexes, such as the first structures of RCC1/nucleosome (2010) and PRC1/nucleosome (2014).

Education: B.S. in Physics (Cornell University, 1985), Ph.D. in Molecular Biology (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge University as a Marshall Scholar, 1989). Postdoctoral training at ETH Zurich under Tim Richmond. Joined Penn State faculty in 1998, promoted to Full Professor in 2011.

Research Interests: Structural and biochemical mechanisms of chromatin enzymes, epigenetic regulation, nucleosome recognition, cancer-related chromatin dysregulation. His lab develops tools like low-cost DNA/protein markers and recombinant protein expression systems, distributed globally.

Awards:

• Verne M. Willaman Chair in Molecular Biology (2020)
• Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences (2001)
• C.I. Noll Award for Excellence in Teaching (2014)
• AAAS Fellow (2015)

Advising & Labs: Advised numerous students (names not listed). Director of the Center for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation. Collaborates extensively, contributing reagents to over 400 labs worldwide.