Richard Treisman conducted his thesis research on polyomavirus transcription and RNA processing with Bob Kamen, receiving his PhD in 1981. He then pursued postdoctoral work on globin gene expression and thalassemia genes with Tom Maniatis. In 1984, he joined the MRC LMB in Cambridge, where he started working on how growth factors control transcription. Initially focusing on the Fos gene, he identified the transcription factor SRF and cloned its gene, before returning to London in 1988.
He showed that the TCF family of SRF cofactors are targets for MAP kinase signalling, and demonstrated that the MRTF transcription cofactors are novel G-actin binding proteins that sense fluctuations in G-actin concentration. He continues to focus on SRF’s regulatory cofactors and their cognate signalling pathways.
Richard is also a member of EMBO and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences; he received the 1995 EMBO Medal and the 2002 Jeantet Prize for Medicine. He was Director of the CRUK London Research Institute from 2000–2015, becoming Research Director of the Francis Crick Institute in 2009.
Professional position
- Research Director , Signalling and Transcription Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute
Subject groups
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Molecules of Life
Cell biology (incl molecular cell biology)
Awards
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Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine
