The Catherine H. Bone lecture in chemistry is hosted by the Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK University chemistry department and is made possible by the endowments left by Catherine H. Bone, who taught chemistry at Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK from 1946-1965.
Recent Lecture
Tracking the Edits that Rewrite the RNA Code
RNA undergoes extensive chemical modification in cells, resulting in changes to protein expression or even the sequences of the proteins generated. Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) editing is one of the most widespread and impactful of these modifications and is catalyzed by adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs). Resulting inosines base pair with cytosine, essentially re-coding adenosine sites to guanine. Editing is essential for several processes, including embryogenesis, neurological function and innate cellular immunity. Dysfunctional editing is also linked to autoimmune diseases, neurological disorders and several types of cancer. Despite this importance, numerous challenges remain for studying A-to-I editing, and our overall understanding of the locations and frequency of inosine sites remains limited. To address this challenge, we have repurposed EndoV from an RNA-cleaving enzyme into an RNA-binding protein and demonstrated its use for mapping of A-to-I editing sites and global profiling of RNA inosine content in cells and tissue samples.
Read More About the Speaker
Read More About the Speaker
Jen Heemstra, PhD, received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, in 2000. At Irvine, she performed undergraduate research investigating the folding of synthetic beta-sheet mimics, which instilled in her a love of supramolecular chemistry. She then moved to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she completed her PhD in 2005, studying the reactivity of pyridine-functionalized phenylene ethynylene cavitands.
After a brief time in industry as a medicinal chemist, Heemstra moved to Harvard University to pursue postdoctoral research exploring mechanisms for templated nucleic acid synthesis. She began her independent career in 2010 and is currently the Charles Allen Thomas Professor and Chair in the department of chemistry at Washington University in St Louis.
Research in the Heemstra lab is focused on harnessing the molecular recognition and self-assembly properties of nucleic acids and proteins for applications in biosensing and bioimaging. An avid science communicator and mentor, Heemstra has received numerous awards for her teaching, research and leadership, including the Cottrell Scholar Award and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Outside of work, Heemstra enjoys spending time with her spouse and two kids, as well as rock climbing, cycling and running.
About the Bone Lecture Series
The Catherine H. Bone Lecture Series was made possible by the endowments of its namesake, who taught chemistry at Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK from 1946 to 1965.
Past Speakers
Past Speakers
- Nancy E. Levinger (2024)
- Colorado State University, Department of Chemistry
- Lecture Topic: Save the Plants! Visualizing Cryoprotectant Permeation and Location Confined in Plant Cells and Tissues
- William Daniel Phillips, PhD (2021)
- Co-recipient of The 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics; Joint Quantum Institute, The National Institute of Standards and Technology and The University Of Maryland
- Lecture Topic: Time, Einstein and the Coolest Stuff in the Universe
- Dr. Henry J. Pownall (2019)
- Professor of Biochemistry at Weiss Cornell Medicine and a scientist at Houston Methodist Research Institute
- Lecture Topic: Cardioprotection via High Density Lipoprotein Therapy—From Biophysics to Mouse Models
- Geraldine Richmond (2018)
- University of Oregon Presidential Chair in Science, Professor of Chemistry
- Lecture Topic: Mulling Over Emulsions: Molecular Assembly at Complex Liquid Surfaces
- Dr. Peter J. Stang (2015)
- University of Utah Distinguished Professor & David P. Gardner Presidential Chair
- Lecture Topic: Abiological Self-Assembly: Predesigned Metallacycles and Metallacages via Coordination
- William Jorgensen, Ph.D. (2014)
- Yale University Sterling Professor of Chemistry
- Lecture Topic: Computationally Guided Drug Discovery
- Dr. Samuel J. Danishefsky (2013)
- Columbia University Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus; Research Scientist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC)
- Lecture Topic: Biologics by Chemical Synthesis
- Dr. Roald Hoffmann (2012)
- Nobel Laureate, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, Writer and Poet
- Lecture Topic: The Chemical Imagination at Work in Very Tight Places
- Dr. Paul Wender (2011)
- Stanford University Department of Chemistry, Department of Chemical and Systems Biology; Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK University Alumnus (Class of 1969)
- Lecture Topic: Molecular Frontiers and Future Transformative Therapies for AIDS, Alzheimer’s and Resistant Cancer (Reflections in and on the light house at Finisterre)