Sophie Dumont, PhD

Assistant Professor, Dept of Cell & Tissue Biology, Dept of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco

sophie.dumont@ucsf.edu

Phone: (415) 502-1229

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Additional Websites

• Tetrad Graduate Program
• Lab Website

Education

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA, B.A., 08/95-06/99, Physics
University of Oxford, UK, D.Phil. candidate, 09/99-08/00, Theoretical Physics
University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA, Ph.D., 08/00-12/05, Molecular Biophysics
University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA, Postdoc, 01/06-03/06, Molecular Biophysics
Harvard Society of Fellows, Junior Fellow, 07/06-06/09, Cellular Biophysics
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, Postdoc, 07/06-05/12, Cellular Biophysics
 

Professional Experience

• 1997-1999
  Undergraduate Student Researcher, Princeton University, Advisor: Prof. Stanislas Leibler (Physics), Thesis: Thermal sensing network of E. coli
• 1999-2000
  Graduate Student Researcher, University of Oxford, Advisor: Prof. Douglas Abraham (Theoretical Physics), Topic: Statistical mechanics of neural networks
• 2000-2005
  Graduate Student Researcher, University of California, Berkeley, Advisor: Prof. Carlos Bustamante (Physics), Thesis: Force and helicase-catalyzed mechanical unfolding of single RNA molecules
• 2006
  Postdoctoral fellow, University of California, Berkeley, Advisors: Prof. Carlos Bustamante (Physics), Prof. Ignacio Tinoco Jr. (Chemistry), Topic: Helicase mechanochemistry
• 2006-2009
  Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows, Mentor: Prof. Timothy J. Mitchison (Systems Biology), Topic: Mechanical forces in cell division
• 2006-2012
  Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Mentor: Prof. Timothy J. Mitchison (Systems Biology), Topic: Mechanical forces in cell division
• 2012-
  Assistant Professor, University of California, San Francisco, Dept of Cell & Tissue Biology, Dept of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology

Honors & Awards

• 1999
  Phi Beta Kappa; Sigma Xi


• 1999
  Allen G. Shenstone Prize in Physics, Princeton University


• 1999-2000
  Rhodes Scholarship


• 1999-2001
  Québec Fund for Nature and Technology Research Fellowship (masters)


• 2001-2003
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada Fellowship (doctoral)


• 2001-2004
  Québec Fund for Nature and Technology Research Fellowship (doctoral)


• 2004
  Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, UC Berkeley


• 2004
  Teaching Effectiveness Graduate Student Instructor Award, UC Berkeley


• 2004-2005
  Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship (doctoral)


• 2005
  Best Poster Award, Helicases & NTP Driven Nucleic Acid Machines, Switzerland


• 2006
  Alan Bearden Outstanding Graduate Research Award, UC Berkeley


• 2006
  Weintraub Graduate Student Award


• 2006-2009
  Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows


• 2007-2009
  Harvard University William F. Milton Fund Award


• 2009-2011
  Charles A. King Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship


• 2010-present
  NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award


• 2013-2015
  Sloan Research Fellow

Selected Publications

1. Dumont S, Salmon ED, Mitchison TJ. Deformations within moving kinetochores reveal different sites of active and passive force generation. Science. 2012 Jul 20; 337(6092):355-8.
   View on PubMed
2. Dumont S. Chromosome segregation: spindle mechanics come to life. Curr Biol. 2011 Sep 27; 21(18):R688-90.
   View on PubMed
3. Dumont S, Mitchison TJ. Force and length in the mitotic spindle. Curr Biol. 2009 Sep 15; 19(17):R749-61.
   View on PubMed
4. Dumont S, Mitchison TJ. Compression regulates mitotic spindle length by a mechanochemical switch at the poles. Curr Biol. 2009 Jul 14; 19(13):1086-95.
   View on PubMed
5. Wühr M, Dumont S, Groen AC, Needleman DJ, Mitchison TJ. How does a millimeter-sized cell find its center? Cell Cycle. 2009 Apr 15; 8(8):1115-21.
   View on PubMed
6. Wühr M, Chen Y, Dumont S, Groen AC, Needleman DJ, Salic A, Mitchison TJ. Evidence for an upper limit to mitotic spindle length. Curr Biol. 2008 Aug 26; 18(16):1256-61.
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7. Cheng W, Dumont S, Tinoco I, Bustamante C. NS3 helicase actively separates RNA strands and senses sequence barriers ahead of the opening fork. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Aug 28; 104(35):13954-9.
   View on PubMed
8. Dumont S, Cheng W, Serebrov V, Beran RK, Tinoco I, Pyle AM, Bustamante C. RNA translocation and unwinding mechanism of HCV NS3 helicase and its coordination by ATP. Nature. 2006 Jan 5; 439(7072):105-8.
   View on PubMed
9. Onoa B, Dumont S, Liphardt J, Smith SB, Tinoco I, Bustamante C. Identifying kinetic barriers to mechanical unfolding of the T. thermophila ribozyme. Science. 2003 Mar 21; 299(5614):1892-5.
   View on PubMed
10. Liphardt J, Dumont S, Smith SB, Tinoco I, Bustamante C. Equilibrium information from nonequilibrium measurements in an experimental test of Jarzynski's equality. Science. 2002 Jun 7; 296(5574):1832-5.
    View on PubMed

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