Jeff Ranish, PhD
Dr. Jeff Ranish joined the ISB faculty in 2005. He has a strong background in the disciplines of proteomics, molecular biology and biochemistry. He has a longstanding interest in understanding how protein’s function in the context of biological systems. Dr. Ranish pursues this goal by developing and applying state of the art proteomics technologies to probe the composition of macromolecular complexes, with a focus on transcriptional regulatory complexes.
Dr. Ranish received his Ph.D. in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program at the University of Washington in 1999. During his doctoral dissertation, Dr. Ranish studied the molecular mechanism of transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in the laboratory of Dr. Steven Hahn at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, he applied biochemical, molecular biology, and molecular genetics approaches to address this problem. Dr. Ranish’s studies culminated in the identification and cloning of the genes encoding the general transcription factor TFIIA, and the development of an immobilized promoter system for isolating and studying transcription complexes. He used this system to define intermediates in the formation of preinitiation complexes, and to define the reinitiation complex. For his poctdoctoral training, Dr. Ranish worked with Dr. John Yates, III and Dr. Ruedi Aebersold in the Molecular Biotechnology department at the University of Washington where he developed his skills in mass spectrometry based-proteomic technologies. Dr. Ranish joined Dr. Aebersold when he left the University of Washington to found the ISB in 2000.
During his tenure in Dr. Aebersold’s lab, Dr. Ranish developed a new strategy for studying macromolecular complexes by quantitative mass spectrometry. The strategy can be used to determine the composition of complexes and to detect changes in complex composition. It is based on the use of stable isotope tagging of proteins and mass spectrometry to compare the relative abundances of tryptic peptides derived from suitable pairs of purified or partially purified protein complexes. Application of the technology to study transcription factor complexes from yeast and higher eukaryotes has resulted in the discovery of new transcription factors with roles in human health, and has revealed mechanisms for how genes are regulated during development. The approach is currently being used in numerous national and international collaborations to unravel the complexities of gene regulation.
Dr. Ranish received his Ph.D. in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program at the University of Washington in 1999. During his doctoral dissertation, Dr. Ranish studied the molecular mechanism of transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in the laboratory of Dr. Steven Hahn at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, he applied biochemical, molecular biology, and molecular genetics approaches to address this problem. Dr. Ranish’s studies culminated in the identification and cloning of the genes encoding the general transcription factor TFIIA, and the development of an immobilized promoter system for isolating and studying transcription complexes. He used this system to define intermediates in the formation of preinitiation complexes, and to define the reinitiation complex. For his poctdoctoral training, Dr. Ranish worked with Dr. John Yates, III and Dr. Ruedi Aebersold in the Molecular Biotechnology department at the University of Washington where he developed his skills in mass spectrometry based-proteomic technologies. Dr. Ranish joined Dr. Aebersold when he left the University of Washington to found the ISB in 2000.
During his tenure in Dr. Aebersold’s lab, Dr. Ranish developed a new strategy for studying macromolecular complexes by quantitative mass spectrometry. The strategy can be used to determine the composition of complexes and to detect changes in complex composition. It is based on the use of stable isotope tagging of proteins and mass spectrometry to compare the relative abundances of tryptic peptides derived from suitable pairs of purified or partially purified protein complexes. Application of the technology to study transcription factor complexes from yeast and higher eukaryotes has resulted in the discovery of new transcription factors with roles in human health, and has revealed mechanisms for how genes are regulated during development. The approach is currently being used in numerous national and international collaborations to unravel the complexities of gene regulation.