Research Summary

Dr. Yamamoto oversees strategic planning as well as research activities at UCSF's school of medicine. After earning a PhD at Princeton, he came to UCSF in 1973. He served as chair of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology from 1994 to 2003. Dr. Yamamoto is regarded as an international leader in studying the mechanisms of signaling and gene regulation by intracellular receptors. Dr. Yamamoto currently serves as the Vice Chancellor for Science Policy and Strategy and the Director of Precision Medicine at UCSF.

In 2022, Yamamoto was elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest multidisciplinary scientific society in the world.

Research Funding

  • February 15, 2019 - January 31, 2022 - CasCUT&RUN: An in vivo method to analyze locus-specific protein complexes driving transcription of target genes in cancer , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21CA235303
  • September 20, 2013 - November 30, 2019 - Motivating INformed Decisions (MIND): Careers for the Future Biomedical Workforce , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: DP7OD018420
  • December 1, 1976 - November 30, 2018 - Gene Regulation By Steroid Receptor Proteins , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA020535
  • August 5, 2015 - July 31, 2018 - Transporters for Glucocorticoids: Exploring a New Paradigm for Steroid Hormone Regulation, and a Potential Strategy for Identification of Toxin/Disruptor Transporter Machineries , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21ES026068
  • August 15, 2000 - July 31, 2006 - STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF NUCLEAR RECEPTORS , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P01DK058390
  • September 1, 1976 - June 30, 2006 - Molecular Biology of Eukaryotic Cells and Viruses , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: T32CA009270
  • December 1, 1976 - November 30, 1999 - GENE REGULATION BY STEROID RECEPTOR PROTEINS , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R37CA020535
  • June 15, 1992 - June 14, 1993 - GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE ON ANIMAL CELLS &VIRUSES , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R13GM048082
  • July 1, 1984 - June 30, 1991 - MOLECULAR BIOLOGY STUDY SECTION , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U09RG014629

Education

Iowa State University, Ames, IA, B.Sc., 1968, Biochemistry and Biophysics
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, Ph.D., 1973, Biochemical Sciences
University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, postdoc, 1973-1975, Molecular Biology

Honors & Awards

  • 1977-1982
    NIH Research Career Development Award
  • 1979-1980
    UCSF Distinguished Teaching Award
  • 1982-1986
    Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
  • 1988
    American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 1989
    National Academy of Sciences
  • 1990
    Gregory Pincus Medal
  • 1992
    American Academy of Microbiology
  • 1997
    Faculty Research Lecturer, UC San Francisco
  • 1997
    Iowa State University Distinguished Achievement Citation
  • 1998
    Theodore Roosevelt High School Hall of Fame, Des Moines, Iowa
  • 1999
    Vanderbilt Medal of Merit, Vanderbilt University
  • 2001
    Iowa State University D.Sc., honorary
  • 2002
    Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • 2003
    Institute of Medicine
  • 2004
    Allan Munck Prize, Dartmouth University
  • 2008
    10 Influential People to Watch in Biomedical Policy, Nature Medicine
  • 2010
    UCSF Postdoctoral Scholars Association Outstanding Faculty Mentorship Award
  • 2012
    The Endocrine Society 2012 Edwin B. Astwood Award
  • 2012
    American Society for Cell Biology 2012 Public Service Award
  • 2013
    John V. Atanasoff Discovery Award

Selected Publications

  1. Wailoo KA, Dzau VJ, Yamamoto KR. Embed equity throughout innovation. Science. 2023 Sep 08; 381(6662):1029.  View on PubMed
  2. Yamamoto KR. Institutions' role in trainee success. Science. 2023 Mar 31; 379(6639):1308.  View on PubMed
  3. Ehmsen KT, Knuesel MT, Martinez D, Asahina M, Aridomi H, Yamamoto KR. Computational resources to define alleles and altered regulatory motifs at genomically edited candidate response elements. Nucleic Acids Res. 2021 09 20; 49(16):9117-9131.  View on PubMed
  4. Sim I, Stebbins M, Bierer BE, Butte AJ, Drazen J, Dzau V, Hernandez AF, Krumholz HM, Lo B, Munos B, Perakslis E, Rockhold F, Ross JS, Terry SF, Yamamoto KR, Zarin DA, Li R. Time for NIH to lead on data sharing. Science. 2020 03 20; 367(6484):1308-1309.  View on PubMed
  5. Wandler AM, Huang BJ, Craig JW, Hayes K, Yan H, Meyer LK, Scacchetti A, Monsalve G, Dail M, Li Q, Wong JC, Weinberg O, Hasserjian RP, Kogan SC, Jonsson P, Yamamoto K, Sampath D, Nakitandwe J, Downing JR, Zhang J, Aster JC, Taylor BS, Shannon K. Loss of glucocorticoid receptor expression mediates in vivo dexamethasone resistance in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia. 2020 08; 34(8):2025-2037.  View on PubMed
  6. Monsalve GC, Yamamoto KR, Ward JD. A New Tool for Inducible Gene Expression in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 2019 02; 211(2):419-430.  View on PubMed
  7. Chan LN, Chen Z, Braas D, Lee JW, Xiao G, Geng H, Cosgun KN, Hurtz C, Shojaee S, Cazzaniga V, Schjerven H, Ernst T, Hochhaus A, Kornblau SM, Konopleva M, Pufall MA, Cazzaniga G, Liu GJ, Milne TA, Koeffler HP, Ross TS, Sánchez-García I, Borkhardt A, Yamamoto KR, Dickins RA, Graeber TG, Müschen M. Author Correction: Metabolic gatekeeper function of B-lymphoid transcription factors. Nature. 2018 06; 558(7711):E5.  View on PubMed
  8. Schnoes AM, Caliendo A, Morand J, Dillinger T, Naffziger-Hirsch M, Moses B, Gibeling JC, Yamamoto KR, Lindstaedt B, McGee R, O'Brien TC. Internship Experiences Contribute to Confident Career Decision Making for Doctoral Students in the Life Sciences. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2018; 17(1).  View on PubMed
  9. Love MI, Huska MR, Jurk M, Schöpflin R, Starick SR, Schwahn K, Cooper SB, Yamamoto KR, Thomas-Chollier M, Vingron M, Meijsing SH. Role of the chromatin landscape and sequence in determining cell type-specific genomic glucocorticoid receptor binding and gene regulation. Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 02 28; 45(4):1805-1819.  View on PubMed
  10. Chan LN, Chen Z, Braas D, Lee JW, Xiao G, Geng H, Cosgun KN, Hurtz C, Shojaee S, Cazzaniga V, Schjerven H, Ernst T, Hochhaus A, Kornblau SM, Konopleva M, Pufall MA, Cazzaniga G, Liu GJ, Milne TA, Koeffler HP, Ross TS, Sánchez-García I, Borkhardt A, Yamamoto KR, Dickins RA, Graeber TG, Müschen M. Metabolic gatekeeper function of B-lymphoid transcription factors. Nature. 2017 02 23; 542(7642):479-483.  View on PubMed
  11. Weikum ER, Knuesel MT, Ortlund EA, Yamamoto KR. Glucocorticoid receptor control of transcription: precision and plasticity via allostery. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2017 03; 18(3):159-174.  View on PubMed
  12. Walter P, Yamamoto KR. Science as a Way of Knowing: From Protein Machines to Evidence-Based Decisions. Cell. 2016 Sep 22; 167(1):16-19.  View on PubMed
  13. Ratnappan R, Ward JD, Yamamoto KR, Ghazi A. Nuclear hormone receptors as mediators of metabolic adaptability following reproductive perturbations. Worm. 2016 Jan-Mar; 5(1):e1151609.  View on PubMed
  14. Pack LR, Yamamoto KR, Fujimori DG. Opposing Chromatin Signals Direct and Regulate the Activity of Lysine Demethylase 4C (KDM4C). J Biol Chem. 2016 Mar 18; 291(12):6060-70.  View on PubMed
  15. Hawgood S, Hook-Barnard IG, O'Brien TC, Yamamoto KR. Precision medicine: Beyond the inflection point. Sci Transl Med. 2015 Aug 12; 7(300):300ps17.  View on PubMed
  16. Granner DK, Wang JC, Yamamoto KR. Regulatory Actions of Glucocorticoid Hormones: From Organisms to Mechanisms. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2015; 872:3-31.  View on PubMed
  17. Ratnappan R, Amrit FR, Chen SW, Gill H, Holden K, Ward J, Yamamoto KR, Olsen CP, Ghazi A. Germline signals deploy NHR-49 to modulate fatty-acid β-oxidation and desaturation in somatic tissues of C. elegans. PLoS Genet. 2014 Dec; 10(12):e1004829.  View on PubMed
  18. Schiller BJ, Chodankar R, Watson LC, Stallcup MR, Yamamoto KR. Glucocorticoid receptor binds half sites as a monomer and regulates specific target genes. Genome Biol. 2014 Jul 31; 15(7):418.  View on PubMed
  19. Ward JD, Yamamoto KR, Asahina M. SUMO as a nuclear hormone receptor effector: New insights into combinatorial transcriptional regulation. Worm. 2014; 3:e29317.  View on PubMed
  20. Ward JD, Mullaney B, Schiller BJ, He LD, Petnic SE, Couillault C, Pujol N, Bernal TU, Van Gilst MR, Ashrafi K, Ewbank JJ, Yamamoto KR. Defects in the C. elegans acyl-CoA synthase, acs-3, and nuclear hormone receptor, nhr-25, cause sensitivity to distinct, but overlapping stresses. PLoS One. 2014; 9(3):e92552.  View on PubMed

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