Education

Ph.D. in Pharmacology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, 1979

Current position

Professor and Director, Proteostasis and Neurodegeneration Program, Sanford-Burnham (2011–present)
Adjunct Professor, Department of Pharmacology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (2013–present)

Publications

Note: Selected from 298 original peer-reviewed publications and 143 reviews/chapters.

1. Rajesh, K., Papadakis, A. I., Kazimierczak, U., Peidis, P., Wang, S., Ferbeyre, G., Kaufman, R. J. and Koromilas, A. E. (2013). eIF2alpha phosphorylation bypasses premature senescence caused by oxidative stress and pro-oxidant antitumor therapies. Aging (Albany NY) 5(12): 884-901.
   
2. Han, J., Back, S. H., Hur, J., Lin, Y. H., Gildersleeve, R., Shan, J., Yuan, C. L., Krokowski, D., Wang, S., Hatzoglou, M., Kilberg, M. S., Sartor, M. A. and Kaufman, R. J. (2013). ER-stress-induced transcriptional regulation increases protein synthesis leading to cell death. Nat Cell Biol 15(5): 481-490.
   
3. Back, S. H., Scheuner, D., Han, J., Song, B., Ribick, M., Wang, J., Gildersleeve, R. D., Pennathur, S. and Kaufman, R. J. (2009). Translation attenuation through eIF2alpha phosphorylation prevents oxidative stress and maintains the differentiated state in beta cells. Cell Metab 10(1): 13-26.
   
4. Harding, H. P., Zhang, Y., Scheuner, D., Chen, J. J., Kaufman, R. J. and Ron, D. (2009). Ppp1r15 gene knockout reveals an essential role for translation initiation factor 2 alpha (eIF2alpha) dephosphorylation in mammalian development. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106(6): 1832-1837.
   
5. Malhotra, J. D., Miao, H., Zhang, K., Wolfson, A., Pennathur, S., Pipe, S. W. and Kaufman, R. J. (2008). Antioxidants reduce endoplasmic reticulum stress and improve protein secretion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105(47): 18525-18530.
   
6. Song, B., Scheuner, D., Ron, D., Pennathur, S. and Kaufman, R. J. (2008). Chop deletion reduces oxidative stress, improves beta cell function, and promotes cell survival in multiple mouse models of diabetes. J Clin Invest 118(10): 3378-3389.
   
7. Wu, J., Rutkowski, D. T., Dubois, M., Swathirajan, J., Saunders, T., Wang, J., Song, B., Yau, G. D. and Kaufman, R. J. (2007). ATF6alpha optimizes long-term endoplasmic reticulum function to protect cells from chronic stress. Dev Cell 13(3): 351-364.
   
8. Rutkowski, D. T., Arnold, S. M., Miller, C. N., Wu, J., Li, J., Gunnison, K. M., Mori, K., Sadighi Akha, A. A., Raden, D. and Kaufman, R. J. (2006). Adaptation to ER stress is mediated by differential stabilities of pro-survival and pro-apoptotic mRNAs and proteins. PLoS Biol 4(11): e374.
   
9. Zhang, K., Shen, X., Wu, J., Sakaki, K., Saunders, T., Rutkowski, D. T., Back, S. H. and Kaufman, R. J. (2006). Endoplasmic reticulum stress activates cleavage of CREBH to induce a systemic inflammatory response. Cell 124(3): 587-599.
   
10. Scheuner, D., Vander Mierde, D., Song, B., Flamez, D., Creemers, J. W., Tsukamoto, K., Ribick, M., Schuit, F. C. and Kaufman, R. J. (2005). Control of mRNA translation preserves endoplasmic reticulum function in beta cells and maintains glucose homeostasis. Nat Med 11(7): 757-764.
    
11. Shen, X., Ellis, R. E., Lee, K., Liu, C. Y., Yang, K., Solomon, A., Yoshida, H., Morimoto, R., Kurnit, D. M., Mori, K. and Kaufman, R. J. (2001). Complementary signaling pathways regulate the unfolded protein response and are required for C. elegans development. Cell 107(7): 893-903.
    
12. Scheuner, D., Song, B., McEwen, E., Liu, C., Laybutt, R., Gillespie, P., Saunders, T., Bonner-Weir, S. and Kaufman, R. J. (2001). Translational control is required for the unfolded protein response and in vivo glucose homeostasis. Mol Cell 7(6): 1165-1176.
    

Additional publications of importance to the UPR field (in chronological order)

1. Sakaki, K., Yoshina, S., Shen, X., Han, J., DeSantis, M. R., Xiong, M., Mitani, S. and Kaufman, R. J. (2012). RNA surveillance is required for endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(21): 8079-8084.
   
2. Wang, S., Chen, Z., Lam, V., Han, J., Hassler, J., Finck, B. N., Davidson, N. O. and Kaufman, R. J. (2012). IRE1alpha-XBP1s induces PDI expression to increase MTP activity for hepatic VLDL assembly and lipid homeostasis. Cell Metab 16(4): 473-486.
   
3. Zhang, K., Wang, S., Malhotra, J., Hassler, J. R., Back, S. H., Wang, G., Chang, L., Xu, W., Miao, H., Leonardi, R., Chen, Y. E., Jackowski, S. and Kaufman, R. J. (2011). The unfolded protein response transducer IRE1alpha prevents ER stress-induced hepatic steatosis. EMBO J 30(7): 1357-1375.
   
4. Fribley, A. M., Cruz, P. G., Miller, J. R., Callaghan, M. U., Cai, P., Narula, N., Neubig, R. R., Showalter, H. D., Larsen, S. D., Kirchhoff, P. D., Larsen, M. J., Burr, D. A., Schultz, P. J., Jacobs, R. R., Tamayo-Castillo, G., Ron, D., Sherman, D. H. and Kaufman, R. J. (2011). Complementary cell-based high-throughput screens identify novel modulators of the unfolded protein response. J Biomol Screen 16(8): 825-835.
   
5. Vecchi, C., Montosi, G., Zhang, K., Lamberti, I., Duncan, S. A., Kaufman, R. J. and Pietrangelo, A. (2009). ER stress controls iron metabolism through induction of hepcidin. Science 325(5942): 877-880.
   
6. Rutkowski, D. T., Wu, J., Back, S. H., Callaghan, M. U., Ferris, S. P., Iqbal, J., Clark, R., Miao, H., Hassler, J. R., Fornek, J., Katze, M. G., Hussain, M. M., Song, B., Swathirajan, J., Wang, J., Yau, G. D. and Kaufman, R. J. (2008). UPR pathways combine to prevent hepatic steatosis caused by ER stress-mediated suppression of transcriptional master regulators. Dev Cell 15(6): 829-840.
   
7. Zhang, K., Wong, H. N., Song, B., Miller, C. N., Scheuner, D. and Kaufman, R. J. (2005). The unfolded protein response sensor IRE1alpha is required at 2 distinct steps in B cell lymphopoiesis. J Clin Invest 115(2): 268-281.