William T. Wickner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bill Wickner
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|---|---|
| Born |
William T. Wickner
March 13, 1946 |
| Education | Yale University (BA) Harvard Medical School (MD) Stanford University (PostDoc) |
| Known for | Studying of yeast vacuole fusion as a model for membrane fusion |
| Relatives | Reed Wickner (brother) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biochemistry Cell Biology |
| Institutions | Harvard Medical School Stanford University University of California, Los Angeles Dartmouth College |
| Academic advisors | Arthur Kornberg Eugene P. Kennedy |
| Notable students | Gail Mandel Franz-Ulrich Hartl Pamela Silver |
William T. Wickner (born March 13, 1946) is a well-known scientist. He studies how tiny parts of cells, called membranes, join together. This process, called membrane fusion, is super important for all living things.
Contents
Bill Wickner's Early Life and Education
Bill Wickner went to Yale University and finished in 1967. He studied chemistry there. Later, in 1973, he earned his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School. While at Harvard, he worked with a scientist named Eugene P. Kennedy.
His Amazing Career and Discoveries
After medical school, Bill Wickner did more research at Stanford University. He worked with another famous scientist, Arthur Kornberg. Together, they found out how a special kind of molecule, called an RNA primer, helps DNA make copies of itself.
In 1974, Bill Wickner started his own research at Stanford. He began to study how membranes are built in bacteria.
Working at UCLA
Wickner then worked at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for 17 years. During this time, he received many important awards. These included an award from the American Cancer Society and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Moving to Dartmouth
In 1993, he moved to Dartmouth Medical School. There, he became the head of the biochemistry department.
Training Future Scientists
Bill Wickner has also helped train many other successful scientists. Some of his notable students include Franz-Ulrich Hartl, Gail Mandel, and Pamela Silver.
What He Studies Now
Today, Bill Wickner's lab studies how parts of yeast cells, called vacuoles, join together. They use this as a way to understand more about membrane fusion. This research helps us learn how cells work in all living things.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Bill Wickner has received many honors for his work:
- In 1996, he was chosen to be a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. This is a very high honor for scientists in the U.S.
- In 2017, he received the William C. Rose Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB).
- He is also a foreign member of the European Molecular Biology Organization.
- He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
