October 6, 2003
Biochemist Rosenzweig Is MacArthur Fellow
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University biochemist Amy C. Rosenzweig
has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship by the John D. and Catherine
T. MacArthur Foundation.
The young researcher, along with 23 other MacArthur Fellows, will
receive a five-year “no strings attached” fellowship
worth $500,000.
“I am very excited and honored to be chosen as a MacArthur
Fellow,” said Rosenzweig, associate professor of biochemistry,
molecular biology and cell biology and of chemistry. “It
is really gratifying to have our work recognized in this way --
and not just my efforts but also those of the wonderful students,
post-doctoral researchers and collaborators I’ve worked with
during the past six years.”
“Amy’s work has revealed for the first time a three-dimensional
picture on an atomic scale of how metals are carried and moved
through a cell by a variety of proteins,” said Daniel I.
Linzer, dean of Northwestern’s Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg
College of Arts and Sciences. “Her studies also give us insights
into how these metals reach their final destinations within certain
proteins, an essential event for the biological activity of these
proteins.”
Rosenzweig is an expert in the structure and biochemistry of
metalloproteins, specialized proteins that are essential to the
healthy functioning of all cells in the human body. Her research
focuses on how these essential yet toxic metal ions are handled
in cells and how metalloenzymes catalyze complex and difficult
chemical transformations.
One of Rosenzweig’s
research projects focuses on human copper homeostasis. Her research
group is determining the three-dimensional
structures of proteins involved in delivering copper to distinct
cellular locations and particular target proteins. In 2001 her
group was the first to determine the molecular structure of a metallochaperone
(a protein that delivers metals to enzymes that need them to function)
bound to its target protein.
These metal
delivery proteins, called copper chaperones, are linked to human
diseases, including Menkes syndrome, Wilson disease
and familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s
disease), and are potential targets for new drugs. Aberrant metal
metabolism also may be an important element in other diseases,
including Alzheimer’s and prion diseases.
Among other recent projects, Rosenzweig and her colleagues have
explored the role of magnesium in beta-lactam formation. Understanding
this reaction will be important for overcoming resistance to penicillins
and cephalosporins. (Both are used to treat infections caused by
bacteria.) The group also is interested in biological catalysts
that convert methane gas to methanol, a reaction of both industrial
and environmental importance.
Rosenzweig, who joined the Northwestern faculty in 1997, is the
recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Camille
Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award (2001) and a Packard Fellowship in
Science and Engineering (1999).
She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from Massachusetts Institute
of Technology in 1994. Rosenzweig was a National Institutes of
Health postdoctoral fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and
Harvard Medical School from 1994 to 1997.
The MacArthur Fellows Program is designed to emphasize the importance
of the creative individual in society. Fellows are selected for
the originality and creativity of their work and the potential
to do more in the future. Candidates are nominated, evaluated and
selected through a rigorous and confidential process. No one may
apply for the awards, nor are any interviews conducted with nominees.
The inaugural class of MacArthur Fellows was named in 1981. More
information can be found online at www.macfound.org.
Mary Zimmerman,
professor of performance studies at Northwestern and 2002 Tony
Award–winning theatre director, was named a
MacArthur Fellow in 1998. |