David G. Schatz PhD
Professor of Immunobiology; Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
Biographical Info
Dr. Schatz has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of
the mechanisms that assemble and diversify antigen receptor genes that encode
antibodies and T cell receptors.
He is best known for the discovery of RAG1 and RAG2, subsequent
biochemical insights into RAG
function and evolutionary origins, and the discovery of two distinct levels of
regulation of somatic hypermutation.
As a graduate student with David Baltimore, Schatz
established an assay for the detection of V(D)J recombination activity and, in
collaboration with Marjorie Oettinger, used this assay to isolate the
Recombination Activating Genes RAG1
and RAG2, whose gene products
constitute the vital, lymphocyte-specific components of the V(D)J recombination
machinery. This discovery
transformed the field of V(D)J recombination and stands as a seminal event in
the field of Immunology. Schatz
has since provided important insights into the mechanism of V(D)J
recombination. Schatz and Martin
Gellert co-discovered the ability of RAG1/2 to perform DNA transposition, with implications
for our understanding of the evolution of the adaptive immune system and the
mechanism of V(D)J recombination.
Schatz has made important contributions to the field of somatic
hypermutation, including the discovery of strand asymmetric spreading of
mutations and the existence of two distinct levels of targeting of the
reaction, one of which relies on gene-specific DNA repair: error-prone at immunoglobulin genes and
high-fidelity at numerous proto-oncogenes. His laboratory remains interested in understanding the
mechanism of regulation of V(D)J recombination and somatic hypermutation.
Schatz has co-authored over 110 articles, many in
prestigious journals, and has been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards,
including the Rhodes Scholarship, the Snow Prize (Yale University's top award
to a graduating senior), the National Science Foundation Presidential Faculty
Fellows Award, and the American Association of Immunologists-BD Biosciences
Investigator Award. He has been
active as an editor and reviewer, serving as Co-Editor of the journal Immunity, as a member of the editorial
board of a number of journals, and as a member and Chair of the NIH study section
Cellular and Molecular Immunology-A.
Schatz has also been very interested in graduate education, serving for
many years as the Director of Graduate Studies and Graduate Admissions for
Immunobiology and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Biological and
Biomedical Sciences (BBS) Program.
Schatz received B.S. and
M.S. degrees in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University in
1980, and a M.A. degree in Philosophy and Politics from Oxford University in
1982. His Ph.D. degree (1990) and
postdoctoral training were done with Dr. David Baltimore at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.
Education & Training
- Ph.D.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1990)
- Postdoctoral Fellow
- Whitehead Institute and MIT, Department of Biology (1990 - 1991)
Honors & Recognition
- Snow Prize, Yale University's top overall award to a graduating student
Yale University (1980) - Rhodes Scholarship
(1980) - Cheryl Whitlock/Pathology Prize for the outstanding contribution to the fields of hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis by an individual during training.
(1991) - National Science Foundation Presidential Faculty Fellows Award
National Science Foundation (1994) - AAI-BD Biosciences Investigator Award
American Association of Immunology (2004) - MERIT Award, NIAID, NIH
National Institutes of Health (2007)
Professional Service
- Chair, NIH Study Section CMI-A (2008 - 2010)
- Regular member, NIH Study Section CMI-A (2004 - 2006)
- Editorial Board, Immunological Reviews (2003 - 2008)
- Editorial Board, Immunity (2003)
- Co-Editor, Immunity (2000 - 2003)
- Editorial Board, Molecular and Cellular Biology (1996)
