School of medicine

School Notes: School of Medicine
March/April 2019

Nancy J. Brown | http://medicine.yale.edu

Biochemist honored for ‘paradigm-shifting’ work

Susan Baserga ’80, ’88MD, ’88PhD, professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry, and of genetics and of therapeutic radiology, was elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) as a fellow. Baserga holds three biotechnology patents related to her work in eukaryotic ribosome biogenesis and its relationship to cancer and human genetic diseases. In support of her election, the academy described Baserga’s paradigm-shifting contributions to the field of ribosome biogenesis, the nucleolus, human diseases caused by defects in making ribosomes, and the impact of ribosome biogenesis on cell growth, cell division, and cancer. With the 2018 class, there are now more than 1,000 NAI fellows representing research universities, and governmental and nonprofit institutes. 

Scientists find roots of neuropsychiatric diseases in the developing brain

The most comprehensive genomic analysis of the human brain ever undertaken has revealed new insights into the changes the brain undergoes through development, how it varies among individuals, and the roots of such neuropsychiatric illnesses as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. The multi-institutional analysis and effort resulted in 11 published studies, four of which were spearheaded by researchers from a variety of disciplines at Yale University. The work is part of an ambitious initiative—the PsychENCODE Consortium, founded in 2015 by the National Institutes of Health—that combines neuroscience and data science.

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