Sue Biggins

Sue Biggins serves as the Director of the Basic Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. She leads the Biggins Lab which focuses on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of chromosome segregation during cell division.

Dr. Biggins' research centers on the molecular machinery that ensures accurate chromosome distribution to daughter cells. Her laboratory takes an interdisciplinary approach combining biochemical, biophysical, cell biological, genetic, and structural methods using both yeast and human cell models. A major breakthrough from her lab was the isolation of the kinetochore—the large molecular machine that coordinates chromosome sorting—from yeast cells, which paved the way for critical new findings about how tension plays a role in chromosome sorting.

Her work has significant implications for understanding aneuploidy, the condition where cells contain the wrong number of chromosomes. Aneuploidy is the most common chromosomal abnormality in cancers and a cause of birth defects and other diseases. By studying the underlying mechanisms that regulate cell division and chromosome segregation, her research aims to maintain genomic stability and prevent human disease.

Dr. Biggins has received prestigious recognition including the NIH Maximizing Investigators' Research Award from NIGMS. She actively participates in the scientific community, promoting new research directions such as the upcoming Cell Cycle Regulation in Health and Disease meeting.

Her laboratory has trained numerous researchers, with members receiving fellowships including the Kirschstein-NRSA F32 postdoctoral fellowship and Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellowship. Dr. Biggins is also engaged in science advocacy, supporting efforts to maintain NIH funding and promote scientific research.