Michael K. Johnson, Distinguished Research Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Metalloenzymes Studies, has received a National Institutes of Health MERIT award ($3.3M over 10-years). The objective of NIH MERIT Awards is to provide long-term, stable support to investigators with “outstanding records of productivity, creativity and impact in biomedical research and outstanding records of service to the scientific community”. Dr. Johnson has had continuous NIH support for the past 29 years and the MERIT award was for his outstanding contributions to understanding the biogenesis and repair of biological iron-sulfur clusters and to promoting interdisciplinary training in bioinorganic chemistry. The medical significance of his research program stems from the fact that numerous important biological processes in humans involve proteins containing iron-sulfur clusters. However, these ancient cofactors are readily degraded by oxygen or reactive active oxygen species resulting in loss of protein function. Consequently understanding iron-sulfur cluster assembly and repair are essential for understanding the aging process, age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and other diseases such as cancer and atherosclerosis, all of which have been associated with oxidative stress. Using biophysical spectroscopic techniques, the Johnson group has recently made major progress in unravelling the molecular mechanisms of iron-sulfur cluster assembly, degradation and repair. This prestigious award will enable the Johnson group to continue and expand this pioneering research program.
