“The cytoplasmic RNA exosome: an elaborate machine for a simple mRNA degradation reaction” GSBS Guest Speaker Ambro van Hoof, Ph.D.
Seminar location: CBH-230; November 11, 2019 beginning at 10 a.m.
Since 2015, Ambro van Hoof has served the University of Texas Medical School at Houston as professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. From 2012-2013, he was the co-director of the Graduate Program in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and in 2013 he was promoted to director of the Graduate Program in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, until 2017. From 2017-2018, Ambro served as the co-director of the Graduate Program in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
He holds an earned Ph.D. in genetics from Michigan State University and his Post Graduate Training was at Howard Hughes Medical Institute/University of Arizona in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.
He was born and raised in the Netherlands. He first learned about molecular genetics during his undergraduate education at Wageningen Agricultural University. He decided to pursue molecular genetics for his graduate education at the DOE Plant Research Lab at Michigan State University. During his graduate work he studied mRNA quality control and degradation pathways in plants. After receiving his PhD, he continued studying mRNA degradation pathways, but switched to using yeast because of the better experimental tools available, and because yeast is more closely related to humans. These post-doctoral studies led him to the RNA exosome, and he has been fascinated by its functions ever since.