Prof. Katsuhiko “Katsu” Murakami
Principal Investigator
Katsuhiko Murakami started his research career as a graduate student working under Prof. Akira Ishihama in the National Institute of Genetics and the Graduate University of Advanced Studies in Japan. His thesis title is “Functional analysis of the carboxyl-terminal transcription regulation domain of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase α subunit” and he received Ph. D. in 1997. He engaged in postdoctoral study at the Rockefeller University (1998-2003) for determining the X-ray crystal structure of bacterial RNA polymerase. He joined the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Pennsylvania State University as an Assistant Professor in 2003 and became a full Professor in 2015. He is a director of Center for Structural Biology (the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences) and Stanley R. Person Professor of Molecular Biology.
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Education
Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Japan
Ph.D., 1997, Department of Genetics, School of Life Science (Advisor: A. Ishihama)
Thesis Title: “Functional analysis of the carboxyl-terminal transcription regulation domain of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase alpha subunit”
Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Japan
Master of Chemistry, 1994, Department of Chemistry
Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Japan
Bachelors of Chemistry, 1992, Department of Chemistry
Experience
Pennsylvania State University, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University Park, PA
2025 – present Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Center for Structural Biology
2025 – present Stanley R. Person Professor of Molecular Biology
2015 – present Professor
2009 – 2015 Associate Professor
2003 – 2009 Assistant Professor
The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
1998 – 2003 Postdoctoral Fellow (Supervisor: S. Darst)
National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan
1997 – 1998 Postdoctoral Fellow (Supervisor: Y. Shirakihara)
Awards, Memberships, Other Experiences
The Pew Scholars Award (2005-2009)
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)
American Society of Microbiology (ASM)