Scott Strobel

Scott A. Strobel (born July 4, 1964) is the Henry Ford II professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry and a professor of chemistry at Yale University. He is the vice provost for Science Initiatives and vice president for West Campus Planning & Program Development. An educator and researcher, he has led a number of Yale initiatives over the past two decades, Strobel was named in 2019 as Yale's next provost.

Scott A. Strobel
Born (1964-07-04) July 4, 1964
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBrigham Young University, California Institute of Technology, University of Colorado, Boulder
Known forRainforest Expedition Lab
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
InstitutionsYale University
Doctoral advisorPeter Dervan
Other academic advisorsThomas Cech

Career

Strobel earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in biology from the California Institute of Technology, under the guidance of Peter Dervan, before doing postdoctoral research at the University of Colorado, Boulder, under the mentorship of Thomas Cech. He has been a professor with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) since 2006.

He joined the Yale faculty in 1995 in the Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry and served as department chair from 2006 to 2009. Since 2011 he has served as vice president for West Campus Planning & Program Development, where he has directed the expansion of the West Campus as a research and educational center. In 2014 he also became the inaugural deputy provost for Teaching & Learning. In this capacity he has overseen the creation of the Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, housed within the Sterling Memorial Library. The center provides teaching resources and support to Yale faculty, postdocs, graduate students and undergraduate students.

Research and Teaching

Strobel's research focuses on the biophysics and biochemistry of catalytic RNAs, including riboswitches and peptidyl transferase. His group developed the early methods of Nucleotide Analog Interference Mapping, used to determine the importance of particular functional groups in a structured RNA molecule.[1] Strobel's group solved the x-ray crystal structure of the full length Azoarcus Group I catalytic intron,[2][3] the glmS ribozyme,[4] and the c-di-GMP riboswitch.[5] He has also collaborated with the Thomas A. Steitz lab at Yale on structural studies toward better understanding the mechanism of ribosomal peptide synthesis.[6]

He was twice named a HHMI professor to promote undergraduate science education. With this award he instituted an undergraduate research course, the Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory, which explored microbial and chemical diversity in the world's rainforests as a means to inspire undergraduate students in the sciences. He has led groups of undergraduate students into the rainforest over spring break to hunt for novel endophytes that live inside plants. Following fieldwork, students then isolated microbes and tested them for interesting properties, discovering a variety of organisms including novel fungi with new biological and chemical properties, including Pestalotiopsis microspora, of which some strains degrade polyurethane.[7][8]

Awards and Honors

Strobel has received Beckman, Searle and Basil O'Connor career awards. He received the Dylan Hixon Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Natural Sciences. He also received the Yale Graduate Mentoring Award in the Sciences. He received the Yale Science and Engineering Association Award for Meritorious Service to Yale University.

Personal

Strobel and his son run a small hobby business crafting remnants of campus trees into various lathed items.[9]

References
  1. Strobel SA; Shetty K. (1997). "Defining the chemical groups essential for Tetrahymena group I intron function by nucleotide analog interference mapping". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 94 (7): 2903–2908. Bibcode:1997PNAS...94.2903S. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.7.2903. PMC 20295. PMID 9096319.
  2. "Yale Scientists Visualize Molecular Detail Of RNA Splicing Complex" (June 3, 2004). ScienceDaily Retrieved October 16, 2012
  3. Adams PL; Stahley MR; Kosek AB; Wang J; Strobel SA (2004). "Crystal Structure of a Self-Splicing Group I Intron with Both Exons". Nature. 430 (6995): 45–50. Bibcode:2004Natur.430...45A. doi:10.1038/nature02642. PMID 15175762. S2CID 4387064.
  4. Cochrane JC; Lipchock SV; Smith KD; Strobel SA (2009). "Structural and chemical basis for glucosamine 6-phosphate binding and activation of the glmS ribozyme". Biochemistry. 48 (15): 3239–3246. doi:10.1021/bi802069p. PMC 2854835. PMID 19228039.
  5. Smith KD; Lipchock SV; Ames TD; Wang J; Breaker RR; Strobel SA (2009). "Structural basis of ligand binding by a c-di-GMP riboswitch". Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 16 (12): 1218–1223. doi:10.1038/nsmb.1702. PMC 2850612. PMID 19898477.
  6. Schmeing TM; Huang KS; Strobel SA; Steitz TA (2005). "An induced-fit mechanism to promote peptide bond formation and exclude hydrolysis of peptidyl-tRNA". Nature. 438 (7067): 520–524. Bibcode:2005Natur.438..520M. doi:10.1038/nature04152. PMID 16306996. S2CID 4333559.
  7. Russell, JR; Huang, J; Anand, P; Kucera, K; Sandoval, AG; Dantzler, KW; Hickman, D; Jee, J; Kimovec, FM; Koppstein, D; Marks, DH; Mittermiller, PA; Núñez, SJ; Santiago, M; Townes, MA; Vishnevetsky, M; Williams, NE; Vargas, MP; Boulanger, LA; Bascom-Slack, C; Strobel, SA (September 2011). "Biodegradation of polyester polyurethane by endophytic fungi". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 77 (17): 6076–6084. doi:10.1128/AEM.00521-11. PMC 3165411. PMID 21764951.
  8. Arnaud, Celia (10 November 2008). "Into The Woods". C&EN. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  9. Gasso, Jordi (11 October 2010). "Prof. branches out with Yale Bowls". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
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