Dr. Jamie Cate

Biography

Jamie H. D. Cate is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Molecular Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his B.S. from the University of Denver in 1990, followed by an M.S. from the University of Colorado in 1994, and his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1997. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship as a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Fellow at the University of California, Santa Cruz from 1998 to 1999. Prior to his current role, he served as an Assistant Professor at MIT's Department of Biology from 1999 to 2001 and has received several accolades, including the Searle Scholar Award (2000-2003) and the Sloan Research Fellowship (2006-2007). His research focuses on Structural Biology, Biophysical Chemistry, and Systems Biology, particularly the mechanisms regulating human translation and bacterial protein synthesis. Cate's lab, known as the Cate Lab, explores the genetic code's translation processes and employs techniques like cryo-electron microscopy to study the regulation of protein synthesis. The lab aims to understand how eIF3, a translation initiation factor, interacts with mRNAs and regulates cellular functions, including the implications for cancer biology. Cate is also affiliated with the Center for Genetically Encoded Materials, where he investigates engineering ribosomes for novel polymerization chemistry.

Research Interests