Professor Dr. Kenji Murakami

Biography

Kenji Murakami is an Associate Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in Biochemistry and Biophysics. His research focuses on Eukaryotic gene expression, specifically the orchestration factors required for RNA polymerase II transcription. Murakami’s work aims to understand gene regulation and its implications in organismal development and disease response. His laboratory employs advanced techniques such as cryo-electron microscopy and cross-linking mass spectrometry to dissect the structural biology of macromolecular complexes involved in transcription initiation, elongation, and re-initiation. He has a strong academic background, having earned his B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Tokyo between 1999 and 2004. Murakami is also associated with the Penn Center for Genome Integrity and the Institute of Structural Biology at the same university, contributing to the interdisciplinary field of biochemistry and biophysics.

Research Interests