Research Areas:
Molecular Mechanics of Transcription and Its Regulation

Prof. John Lis obtained his BS in Chemistry from Fairfield University in 1970 and PhD in Biochemistry from Brandeis University in 1975. He then proceeded with his postdoctoral work focused on Drosophila gene regulation and chromosome structure at Stanford University and joined Cornell University as an Assistant Professor in 1978. He is currently the Barbara McClintock Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics in Cornell University.

Prof. Lis’s research developed and used a variety of strategies to study the structure of promoters and genes and the mechanisms of their regulation in living cells. His main model system has been the heat shock genes. These genes can undergo a 200-fold activation of transcription in response to small change in temperature and other cellular stresses.

Prof. Lis received the US National Institutes of Health MERIT Award in 1995. He was also elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.