Shyu Named First Holder of Jesse H. Jones Chair

Molecular biology research provides insights into such diseases as asthma and cancer

Ann-Bin Shyu, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, is the first holder of the endowed Jesse H. Jones Chair in Molecular Biology.

Ann-Bin Shyu, Ph.D.

Established by Houston Endowment Inc., the funding supports Shyu’s work in biomedical research that links molecular biology with the treatment of human disease.

“This endowment gives us more freedom, flexibility, and the luxury to go after some creative ideas, risky projects or approaches that we wouldn’t normally use our existing funding to do,” Shyu said. “It will also help us to expand our existing projects and open up new directions, so down the road, we might be able to get new funding.”

Shyu’s laboratory studies the principles that govern messenger RNA (mRNA) turnover in mammalian cells and its role in diseases like asthma and cancer. “We study what regulates the mRNA templates that are used by cells to translate into proteins,” Shyu said. “We study their stability and turnover rate – what controls the abundance of the mRNA templates.”

Shyu noted that some mRNA templates in cancer cells become very stable, causing the cell to overproduce certain growth-promoting proteins. “If the cell continuously overproduces those proteins, it can lead to cancer formations or tumors,” he said.

For his asthma research, Shyu recently received a Senior Investigator Award for a three-year term from the Sandler Foundation for Asthma Research. “They want to bring in new ideas to look at this disease, and hopefully, it will lead to new therapeutic agents to treat asthma,” Shyu said.

Shyu joined the Medical School in 1990, and during the last 15 years, he has worked to create a highly valued research program.

“I believe that Ann-Bin’s record of research accomplishments places him in an elite status of biomedical researchers capable of functioning at the highest level,” said Rodney Kellems, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Shyu’s nominator for the endowed chair. “To all of his research, educational and administrative activities, Ann-Bin consistently brings the highest standards of performance that set an outstanding example for others to follow. He sets the kind of high standards that encourage others to seek greater levels of achievement.”

Shyu, who also holds an appointment in the UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston, said he feels extremely honored to be named to the Jesse H. Jones Chair in Molecular Biology and thanked those who helped him reach this point in his career.

Along with past and present lab members, Shyu especially thanked one colleague – his wife, Chyi-Ying Chen, Ph.D., research associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. “She’s helped me in tremendous ways. I can’t thank her enough,” he said.

Shyu also appreciates the support he’s received from Kellems. “He’s worked very hard to create an environment that boosts everybody’s research,” Shyu said. “He really recognizes our contributions.”

By Camille Webb, Medical School