Robert Gayle Roeder

Research focuses on the mechanism and regulation of transcription in animal cells. Past work includes the discovery and characterization of (i) the multiple nuclear enzymes (RNA polymerases) that directly transcribe genes (DNA), (ii) cognate classes of RNA polymerase-specific accesory factors, (iii) the first (in eukaryotes) of many hundreds of gene- and cell-specific activators that regulate RNA polymerase function on corresponding target genes, and (iv) a variety of ubiquitos and tissue-specific coactivators that mediate interactions between activators and the general transcription machinery. Current work emphasizes the role of transciptional cofactors in gene activation: by nuclear hormone receptors during cell differentiation, homeostasis and oncogenesis, by tumor supressors in response to DNA damage, by oncoproteins in relation to cell transformation, and by various regulatory factors during B-cell differentiation and leukemogenesis.