Karlene Cimprich, Professor of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford University, is the recipient of the inaugural University of Notre Dame Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Alumni Award. This award recognizes alumni who have achieved outstanding success in their careers.
At Notre Dame, Prof. Cimprich got her start in research working in the laboratory of Prof. Paul Helquist. While originally planning to pursue a degree in medicine, her work in the lab on difficult antibiotic syntheses shifted her thinking toward a career in research. Prof. Helquist fondly recalled that Prof. Cimprich was a model researcher who made excellent progress, collected beautiful data, and kept impeccable records. He stated that “she set the bar extremely high, not only for other researchers in the lab, but also for future winners of the Alumni Award.”
Prof. Cimprich was honored for her pioneering research on the molecular mechanisms of genome stability, focusing particularly on the DNA damage response (DDR), which effects DNA repair, transcription, and replication. Among her many contributions, her group demonstrated the importance of the ATR kinase pathway for sensing and resolving problems in DNA replication. They also identified R-loops, hybrid RNA-DNA molecules, as a major source of DNA damage and genome instability. These R-loops can lead to DNA breaks, and the products of R-loop processing can trigger immune responses leading to cell death. Another significant accomplishment reported from her group is the determination of fundamental mechanisms of replication stress at stalled DNA replication forks in cancer cells. This work has led to advances in new cancer therapies that can exploit this phenomenon to prevent cancer cell proliferation. To support all of these areas, her group has designed numerous innovative tools, including methods to image RNA-DNA hybrids.
After receiving the news of her selection, Prof. Cimprich shared: “I am honored to receive this award from Notre Dame. My time there was truly transformative – the outstanding mentorship and encouragement I received as a student sparked my love of research and shaped my career in ways I could not have imagined. I will always be grateful for friendships, support and opportunities I found there.”
Prof. Cimprich, an Ohio native, received a BS in chemistry from Notre Dame followed by a PhD from Harvard. She has been recognized with numerous national awards, including the Ellison Senior Scholar Award, Leukemia and Lymphoma Scholar Award, Beckman Scholar Award, Burroughs Wellcome New Investigator Award in Toxicology, and Kimmel Scholar Award. Additionally, she is an American Cancer Society Research Professor and an AAAS Fellow.