Irwin Davidson
Department director
Functional Genomics
IGBMC
France
Biography
After obtaining his PhD at the University of Glasgow on the herpes virus in 1985, he became a post-doctoral fellow at the LGME, the forerunner of the IGBMC in Strasbourg, working on the identification of transcription factors interacting with the SV40 enhancer. In 1990, he became principal investigator, is interested in the mechanisms of transcription activation and participated in the identification of the TFIID factor and its role as a coactivator in 1993. In 2000, he began to study TBP and its paralogue TRF2 in mouse, where he demonstrated the specific role of TRF2 in transcription regulation in male germ cells. His group also characterized the structure and functions of TAF4 and revealed its role in various signaling pathways. In addition, the group currently studies the role of transcription factor MITF and its cofactors in malignant melanoma.
Research Interest
Mechanisms of transcription activation and participated in the identification of the TFIID factor and its role as a coactivator
