Julie D. Forman-kay

Biography

Julie Forman-Kay is Program Head and Senior Scientist in the Molecular Medicine Program at the Research Institute of The Hospital for Sick Children and a Professor in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Toronto. The major focus of her work has been to provide biological insights into how dynamic properties of proteins are related to function and methodological tools to enable better understanding of dynamic and disordered states. Her expertise is in using NMR and other biophysical and computational tools to study dynamic and disordered proteins and their interactions, including characterizing their dynamic complexes that are mediated by multivalent interactions. Approaches for calculating computational representations disordered state ensembles have been developed in her group. A related area of interest is the role of post-translational modification, such as phosphorylation and methylation, in regulating structural and binding properties in disordered states and dynamic complexes. The Forman-Kay lab works on a number of projects of specific relevance to cancer and neurobiology. Most recently her lab has started to probe the role phase separation of disordered proteins in RNA processing bodies, a key regulatory process for neurological function. Her group also has a strong interest in CFTR, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, particularly its cytoplasmic domains including the disordered regulatory R region. Her work is highly collaborative and has had significant impact, with widely recognized contributions to the fields of intrinsically disordered proteins, protein interaction domains, and CFTR structure, dynamics and interactions. She is co-chair of the CFTR Structure Consortium of the US Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics. She is the recipient of the 2012 CSMB Jeanne Manery Fisher Memorial Lectureship and the 2013 Zellers Senior Scientist Award from Cystic Fibrosis Canada.

Research Interest

Structural Studies of Disordered Proteins