Alexander Hoffmann is a

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biologist. He is the director of the Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCBio) and the Thomas M Asher Professor of Microbiology in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (MIMG) at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA). His research interest is the development of a predictive understanding of how cellular and molecular networks regulate immune responses.

Education

Hoffmann gained his BA in Physics and Zoology at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1988, pursuing research projects under the tutelage of John Gurdon and John Lasky. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...

in 1994 under the supervision of Robert G. Roeder. Working with Roeder, Hoffmann identified genes encoding the central transcription factor TFIID, including its DNA binding subunit TATA-box binding subunit. He also developed the now popular His-tag expression system, which facilitates the purification of recombinant proteins.

Career

Hoffmann pursued postdoctoral research with

David Baltimore David Baltimore (born March 7, 1938) is an American biologist, university administrator, and 1975 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He is President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Biology at the California Institute of Technolo ...

at MIT from 1998, focusing on the transcriptional control of HIV, and then relocating with Baltimore to Caltech in 1998. At Caltech he focused on the transcriptional and signaling functions of the immune response transcription factor NF-kB, discovering its oscillatory control. Collaborating with Andre Levchenko, Hoffmann developed a mathematical model that explained the molecular basis for the complex dynamic control of NF-kB. The paper describing this model is considered foundational for the field of cellular signaling. Hoffmann established the Signaling Systems Laboratory at

UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

in 2003. A hallmark of his research is the Systems Biology research approach of iterative mathematical modeling and experimental analysis, and how kinetic and dynamic control of molecular processes confer specificity to cellular responses,. In 2009, he co-founded the UCSD's Biocircuits Institute with Jeff Hasty and Lev Tsimring. In 2010, he established the San Diego Center for Systems Biology, being awarded a "Center of Excellence" grant from the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

. In 2013 he took a position at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, and, in 2014, established the Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCBio).

Other roles

Hoffmann served with

Pavel Pevzner Pavel Arkadevich Pevzner (russian: Павел Аркадьевич Певзнер) is the Ronald R. Taylor Professor of Computer Science and Director of the NIH Center for Computational Mass Spectrometry at University of California, San Diego.

as co-director of UCSD's Graduate Program in Bioinformatics from 2009 to 2013, overseeing a dramatic expansion and inclusion of Systems Biology, Biomedical Informatics and Quantitative Biology
Hoffmann has worked to improve equity in educational opportunities. He led educational outreach programs at Caltech (Young Engineering Science Scholars, Freshman Summer Institute), and served at UCSD on the committee for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and as chair of the Chancellor's Diversity Council, focusing on student and faculty recruitment and retention practices, and institutional change.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Alexander American microbiologists Alumni of the University of Cambridge Year of birth missing (living people) Living people David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA faculty