Robin Stanley, Ph.D.

Eukaryotic ribosome biogenesis is a complex process that involves the assembly of 79 ribosomal proteins with 4 ribosomal RNAs through the concerted effort of more than 200 non-ribosomal biogenesis factors. Dysfunction of this pathway gives rise to a group of human diseases known as ribosomopathies and deregulation of the pathway had been linked with numerous types of human cancers, underscoring the need to further understand this complex process. Ribosome biogenesis is one of the most energetically costly endeavors for a cell, at times using up to 80 percent of cellular energy resources. As a result, the process needs to be tightly regulated with cell cycle progression and environmental stimuli. The Stanley research group utilizes a multidisciplinary approach by combining structural biology (x-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, and small angle x-ray scattering) with biochemical and cell biology methods to understand 1) How ribosome assembly factors regulate ribosome assembly and 2) How cell cycle, environmental stimuli, and stress modulate ribosome production.

Robin Stanley, Ph.D., heads the Nucleolar Integrity Group within the NIEHS Signal Transduction Laboratory. Stanley is an Earl Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator and earned her B.S. in chemistry and B.A. in mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She earned her Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University, where she worked under Nobel Laureate Thomas Steitz, Ph.D. Before joining NIEHS in 2014, she was a postdoctoral fellow with James H. Hurley, Ph.D., at the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases.