UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Joseph Reese, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has been selected to receive the title of Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in recognition of his exceptional record of teaching, research and service to the University community. The honor is designated by the Office of the President of Penn State based on the recommendations of colleagues and the dean of the Eberly College of Science.
“Joe Reese is a renowned international scholar, an excellent instructor and mentor, and has provided exceptional service to the scientific community at Penn State and beyond,” said Santhosh Girirajan, interim head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. “His lab has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for over 25 years, which is a tremendous accomplishment given the competitiveness of obtaining NIH grants. In addition to his outstanding scholarship record, he plays a tremendous role in student and faculty mentoring, and his leadership in this regard sets a high bar for all of us to aspire to.”
Reese studies gene regulation in eukaryotes — a large group of organisms that includes everything from yeast to humans. He was the first to identify and characterize the general transcription machinery that marks the location in the genome where the production of RNA starts using the model organism budding yeast. These findings are now standard in all molecular biology textbooks. He also studies how gene regulation changes in response to DNA damage and other stress, which has important implications for the development of cancer therapeutics, many of which target DNA repair pathways.
Reese served as the associate department head of research and faculty development in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for five years and leads the department’s Junior Faculty Mentoring Committee. He is a member of the Penn State Center for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation and the Penn State Cancer Institute. He serves as director and principal investigator of the NIH-funded Eukaryotic Gene Regulation Training Grant (T32).
Reese was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2015. Other awards and honors include receiving a Howard B. Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award from the Penn State Graduate School in 2009 and an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association from 2002 to 2006.
Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State in 1997, Reese was a postdoctoral fellow of the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fund at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center from 1993 to 1997. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Boston University in 1988 and a master’s and doctoral degree in molecular physiology from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, in 1990 and 1992.