GSA Award Seminars
Learn more about the 2025 awardees ≫
Upcoming seminars:
2025 Edward Novitski Prize: Kevin Struhl
May 29, 2:00–3:00 p.m. EDT
Transcription regulatory mechanisms in eukaryotes as revealed by yeast molecular biology
In 1974, knowledge about gene regulation in eukaryotes was limited to the existence of three3 RNA polymerases, nucleosomes, acetylated histones linked to transcriptional activity, and mutations that affected the regulation of multiple genes. In this seminar, Kevin Struhl will discuss the Recombinant DNA enabled the development of yeast molecular biology and reverse genetic analysis. He will discuss functional expression and cloning of a eukaryotic protein-coding gene, the development of vectors for genetic manipulations in yeast, and reverse genetic analysis of DNA sequences and proteins that regulate gene expression, functional conservation of yeast and human proteins, and mechanistic links between transcriptional regulatory proteins and chromatin. These and other novel approaches have elucidated fundamental principles of gene regulation in eukaryotes. Read more about Struhl and pioneering work on yeast molecular biology and more in Genes to Genomes.
2025 GSA Medal Award: Noah Whiteman
June 12, 2:00–3:00 p.m. EDT
Adaptation by leaps and bounds through horizontal gene transfer
Although horizontal gene transfer is the most important mechanism through which novel functions arise in prokaryote species, its role in animal evolution is less well understood. In this seminar, Noah Whiteman will discuss how animals and other multicellular eukaryotes have gained novel adaptations through horizontal gene transfer from viruses and prokaryotes. He will focus on discoveries from his research group that identified a novel, humoral innate immune factor in drosophilid flies and other insect species that they deploy against parasitoid wasps that is encoded by a gene gained through horizontal gene transfer from bacteria and their phages. Read more about Whiteman in Genes to Genomes.
2025 George W. Beadle Award: Sudhir Kumar
June 26, 2:00–3:00 p.m. EDT
A personal arch of data-driven discovery: Tools to insights in evolutionary genetics
In this seminar, Suhir Kumar will highlight the inspiration behind widely used computational tools and the biological discoveries they enabled, and will explore how bridging methods and insights through data-driven approaches has advanced the understanding of species evolution and human disease. Read more about Kumar and his multi-decade academic journey from phylogenetics to phylomedicine in Genes to Genomes.