Carol Gross, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Stomatology
University of California
Fields: Molecular Biology, Biochemistry
Specialty: Transcription Factors
Nominated by: Tracy Ware and Lynn Connolly

Excerpt from nomination: Dr. Gross is not only a defining, senior member of her field, she runs a laboratory that promises to put more empowered, networked women scientists into our world. She mentors all of the people in her lab carefully and pro-actively. She also reaches out to people in other labs, such as my own. A post-doctoral fellow in my lab (in San Francisco) was applying for an academic position in Israel (her home). Not only did Carol coach the development of her job talk, but also did aggressive marketing of my colleague by telephone to land her an offer.

She used her influence in the field to convince one skeptical member of the search committee that their concerns were unfounded and that they would regret losing such an outstanding candidate. That "candidate" is now an assistant professor.

The most unique thing about Carol is her lack of adherence to male social norms while being incredibly successful in her field. Carol regularly brings her mother to lab functions and both of them exude a feminine power and maternal affection I've never seen elsewhere in science. We need senior scientists who mentor and do science AS women.

Carol's lab focuses on two fundamental aspects of E. coli biology:

1. Regulation of the heat shock response: the heat shock/stress response in E.coli is regulated by two alternate sigma factors (which control transcription initiation at specific promoters), sigma 32 and sigma E. sigma32 is by far the better characterized regulator, and is responsible for sensing and responding to the accumulation of denatured protein in the cytoplasmic compartment of the cell. sE, on the other hand, responds to extracytoplasmic stress, including the accumulation of misfolded or unfolded protein in the periplasmic compartment. The regulation of each of these sigmas, the the signal transduction cascades leading to their activation under stress conditions are very active areas of research in the lab. In addition, the lab is interested in the mechanisms used by the cell to co-ordinate the stress responses between each compartment (inter-compartmental communication).

2. Structure/function studies of E. coli RNA polymerase. Specifically, several projects in the lab are focused on defining the interface between the sigma subunit and the core subunits of polymerase. Core polymerase cannot specifically intiate transcription in the absence of a sigma subunit, so the association between sigma and core can be thought of as a major regulatory step in transcriptional control.

Her track record for training strong scientists (female and male alike) is impressive, and she is unparalleled in her support of the people she trains, assuring that each will go on in the best possible position for that person.