Groundbreaking Researcher Influential for Discoveries Advancing Molecular Genetics

Paolo Sassone-Corsi, a researcher responsible for key findings on the genetic activity behind a number of human molecular functions, has joined UC Irvine as Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pharmacology.

Sassone-Corsi comes from the National Center for Scientific Research in Strasbourg, France, where he was the director of research. At UCI, he will oversee the Department of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine and continue his research on molecular genetics with the goal of identifying new targets for drug development.

"Dr. Sassone-Corsi is one of the outstanding molecular biologists of our generation," said Dr. Thomas C. Cesario, dean of the School of Medicine. "He will increase the stature of pharmacological research at UCI and aid the university in its efforts to increase research directed toward new drug discovery."

As a researcher, Sassone-Corsi has made seminal contributions to the understanding of how genes signal proteins to perform specific tasks within cells. Sassone-Corsi has expanded this knowledge of gene transcription in several areas, such as the biochemical mechanisms of cancerous tumor development; circadian rhythms, which are the molecular clock that determines day-night rhythms and sleeping patterns; and the differentiation of male germ cells, which contain the genetic material passed on to a child during reproduction.

Currently, Sassone-Corsi is opening a new avenue of research with key discoveries of how circadian rhythm regulator proteins affect histones, the protein scaffolding that holds DNA. By shaping the structure of DNA strands, histones help influence the genetic messages that direct a cell's activities.

Earlier this year, his research group published its discovery that one of these regulator proteins -- named CLOCK -- modulates changes in histones, which influences the rhythm in which the DNA issues genetic messages. These changes are tightly linked to cellular energy levels and important because about 15 percent of all human gene activity oscillates in a circadian manner.

"I'm proud to be at UCI and to be chair of an exceptional department," Sassone-Corsi said. "I'm sure that, working together with great colleagues within and outside the department, we will enhance the quality work already being done and further benefit this department's unique mission at the bridge between basic sciences and therapeutic application."

Sassone-Corsi, 50, has received many awards, including the 1994 EMBO Gold Medal, the leading prize recognizing the work of European molecular biology performed by research scientists under the age of 40.

He regularly publishes his research in leading peer-reviewed journals, such as "Science," "Cell" and "Nature," and is recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in the field of molecular biology and genetics by the Institute of Scientific Information, which lists the top 250 pre-eminent researchers who have demonstrated great influence in their field as measured by citations to their published work.

The Distinguished Professor title is the highest distinction at UCI and is reserved for senior faculty members who have achieved the highest levels of scholarship over the course of their careers. Distinguished Professors will typically have earned national and international distinctions and honors.

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