Biophysical Society Bulletin | December 2024

B i oApnhnyus iacli sMt ei ne tPi nr ogf i l e

Rebecca Berlow Areas of Research Intrinsically disordered proteins, protein-protein interactions, and nuclear magnetic resonance

Institution University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

At-a-Glance

In her early years, Rebecca Berlow , Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Bio physics in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, became interest ed in the inner workings of the world around her, thanks in part to her father, a radiologist who took her to work and showed her X-rays of her toys. She started doing biophysics research as an under graduate and now focuses on intrinsically disordered proteins involved in regulating transcription.

Rebecca Berlow

Rebecca Berlow grew up in Delmar, New York, outside of Alba ny. She shares, “My father was a radiologist, and I credit him for my interest in biomedical research—when I was young, he brought me to work with him and took X-rays of my toys so that I could see what was inside. That piqued my curiosity for seeing things that may not be visible to the naked eye. My mother was a high school Spanish teacher. She shared her love for teaching and education and taught me how to em power students and to never underestimate the benefits of making students feel valued and safe. She also instilled upon me the importance of keeping a well-stocked snack drawer… this practice is alive and well in my current research group.” Berlow attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, for her undergraduate studies, earning her bache lor’s degree in chemistry. “To be honest, I was doing biophys ics research before I even knew that the field of biophysics existed!” says Berlow. “My first introduction to both scientific research and biophysics was in college. I completed two and a half years of undergraduate research in Joel Tolman ’s lab in the Chemistry Department at Johns Hopkins University, where I got my start in using solution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to characterize protein structure and dynamics. During this time, I was fortunate to work alongside several graduate students who took me under their wing, taught me about biophysics, answered my never-ending stream of ques tions, and helped set me on the path toward graduate school.” After her graduation, she obtained her PhD in molecular bio physics and biochemistry in Patrick Loria ’s lab at Yale Univer sity, where she first learned about her future research focus, intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). Berlow worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Peter Wright and Jane Dyson at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Berlow elaborates, “I became interested in IDPs during graduate school, when my future postdoctoral advisor Peter Wright came to give a seminar in our department. I had

never heard of IDPs before the seminar, but I was really in terested in Peter’s talk and the reception it received from the faculty in the audience. IDPs were a recent discovery at that time, and suffice to say not everyone was convinced of their biological relevance and importance yet. I continued reading about developments in the IDP field as I finished my PhD, and my graduate advisor Patrick Loria also allowed me to work on a side project in the lab on an IDP involved in coagulation. That project made me realize how much more there was to learn about IDPs, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to do so as a postdoc.” Berlow explains, “I think that the lack of stability in scientific careers is quite challenging. In my opinion, there is too much pressure on trainees to change institutions as a prerequisite for advancement and limited flexibility for accommodating exceptions to training timelines. Earlier in my career I did not challenge these norms, but toward the end of my postdoc, my father was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and I found myself juggling my research and my personal life in ways that would have made a move to a new institution impossible. I was extremely fortunate to have fabulous mentors and col leagues who supported me during this time, allowing me the opportunity to continue my path toward independence with out requiring me to compromise on my values or my commit ment to my family. They are the reason I am still working in science today. I think it is far too easy for many of us to forget the human side of science in the pursuit of new discoveries, and I am incredibly grateful to have worked alongside people who supported me as a person as much as my research.” These days, Berlow is an Assistant Professor in the Depart ment of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the School of Med icine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She notes, “My growing research group is studying IDPs that are involved in transcriptional regulation. Many of the proteins we are working with are environmentally responsive and have

December 2024

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