School of Molecular Biosciences Series: Repair – Regeneration – Reproduction

About the event

Distinguished Lecture Series:
REPAIR – REGENERATION – REPRODUCTION

PRESENTER: Dr. Heinikoff Steven, Professor Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutch Cancer Center

TITLE: Histone Overexpression in Cancer

Dr. Heinikoff Steven is a world renowned pioneer in chromatin biology and epigenetics. A Member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of the 2025 Rosenstiel Award, his lab is known for developing transformative genomic technologies, including the widely used CUT&RUN and CUT&Tag methods that reshaped how we map protein–DNA interactions. His research focuses on epigenetic inheritance, nucleosome dynamics, and genome evolution.

In this presentation, Dr. Henikoff will discuss how new technologies drive scientific discovery and highlight the critical, often overlooked role of histone dosage and chromatin in tumorigenesis. Although histones are traditionally viewed as structural DNA packaging, his recent work shows that overexpression of replication dependent histones can drive malignancy.

The School of Molecular Biosciences (SMB) prepares students for careers in science, health, and medicine.

Offering undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral training in biochemistry, genetics and cell biology, and microbiology.