School Notes: School of Medicine
January/February 2014

Pioneering RNA researcher elected to national academy

Ronald R. Breaker, chair and Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), a body representing the nation’s most prominent and productive researchers. Breaker’s research has transformed our understanding of RNA, finding that RNA can play an array of exotic biochemical roles—and may have even been in charge of cellular functions during the dawn of evolution. Science had long held that RNA simply carries information between DNA and protein-manufacturing ribosomes. But Breaker suspected that nucleic acids like RNA might be capable of more than we gave them credit for, and in 1998 he opened a new era of molecular biology when he synthesized the first RNA sequences that work as molecular switches. Soon afterward, he found the first such structures in nature, where they respond to metabolites and help determine which genes will be expressed. 

Two other Yale faculty were also elected: Xing-Wang Deng, Daniel C. Eaton Professor of Plant Biology in the department of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology; and David R. Mayhew, Sterling Professor of Political Science. All three will be inducted into the academy during its April 2014 meeting in Washington, DC.

‘Love and respect’ for library prompt an alumnus’s gift

In a gesture that reflects his debt of gratitude to Yale and his fundamental regard for the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library, Stanley Simbonis ’53, ’57MD, has made a gift of more than $1.1 million in annuities, whose income will be available for use after his death at the discretion of the library’s director. “It was an easy gift to make, because I have great respect and love for the library,” Simbonis says. The library’s recent innovations include its “personal librarian” program, in which medical students are paired with one of its librarians, giving them personalized research support; and efforts to keep apace with today’s sweep toward digitalization. In a display of appreciation for Simbonis’s support, last April the medical library staff renamed a conference room the Dr. Stanley Simbonis Conference Room.