Brian Kobilka, MD
My path to a career as a physician-scientist
Description
The American Society for Clinical Investigation is proud to present the ASCI Scientific Sessions: a bi-monthly spotlight on distinguished investigators and their contributions to biomedical research. The Scientific Sessions are free and open to all, with a goal to create a space for our community, beyond the ASCI’s annual meeting, to gather and celebrate discovery.
Brian Kobilka, MD is Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and holds the Hélène Irwin Fagan Chair in Cardiology at Stanford University.
Dr. Kobilka received Bachelor of Science Degrees in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, Duluth in 1977. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine in 1981 and completed residency training in Internal Medicine at the Barnes Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri in 1984. From 1984-1989 he was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD at Duke University. In 1989 he joined the faculty of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University.
Research in the Kobilka lab focuses on the structure and mechanism of action of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs comprise the largest family of receptors for hormones and neurotransmitters in the human genome. The Kobilka lab applies a spectrum of biochemical, biophysical and structural approaches to understand GPCR signaling at the molecular level.
Dr. Kobilka is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2012, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with Dr. Lefkowitz, for his work in determining the structure of a GPCR in inactive and G protein-coupled states.
Dr. Lefkowitz, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry at the Duke University Medical Center and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, will moderate this session. In addition to sharing the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Dr. Kobilka and Dr. Lefkowitz are active mentors and co-Founders of the ASCI PSSF Fellowship for medical students.