Sue Biggins (born 1968) is an American cell biologist who studies kinetochores and the transfer of

chromosomes A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

during

cell division Cell division is the process by which a parent cell (biology), cell divides into two daughter cells. Cell division usually occurs as part of a larger cell cycle in which the cell grows and replicates its chromosome(s) before dividing. In eukar ...

. Her team isolated kinetochores from cells, enabling them to be studied separately under laboratory conditions. They also discovered that tension helps kinetochores to attach to microtubules and move from the mother cell to the daughter cells when cells divide. The methodology and concepts she developed for yeast kinetochores are being adopted in laboratories around the world. Biggins was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (AAAS) in 2018.

Education

Biggins received her BS in biology in 1990 from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology in 1995 at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

Career

Biggins is currently the associate director and a full member of the basic sciences division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as well as an affiliate professor for the department of biochemistry at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. She was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 2015 and to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2018. She received the National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology in 2013. Biggins has also received a Beckman Young Investigators Award in 2003. Biggins is also a

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fil ...

Investigator. She was awarded the Novitski Prize of the

Genetics Society of America The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is a scholarly membership society of more than 5,500 genetics researchers and educators, established in 1931. The Society was formed from the reorganization of the Joint Genetics Sections of the American Soc ...

in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biggins, Sue Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Cancer researchers Princeton University alumni Stanford University alumni Living people 1968 births Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center people