Eric M. Verdin, MD
Associate Director and Senior Investigator
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Download a Printable PDF Other Professional Titles
Investigator, Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at Gladstone
Professor, Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Administrative Assistant
Veronica Fonseca
(415) 734-4809
vfonseca@gladstone.ucsf.eduMore about Dr. Verdin
Dr. Verdin studies the molecular virology of HIV and novel approaches to eradicate HIV infection. Dr. Verdin’s laboratory also studies basic mechanisms of aging and focuses on a family of proteins—called histone deacetylases—and their role in the aging process. He joined the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology in 1997 and became the associate director in 2004.
Dr. Verdin was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Verdin also serves on the National Scientific Advisory Council of the American Federation for Aging Research. For his aging research, Dr. Verdin was recognized with a Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging and a senior scholarship from the Ellison Medical Foundation. His work on HIV was recognized by an Avant-Garde Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Verdin has served as reviewer on study sections for the NIH, as the organizer of international meetings and as the editor of several books and reviews. He has published more than 150 international papers and is associated with 10 patents.
Originally from Belgium, Dr. Verdin earned his MD from the University of Liege, in Belgium. He trained at Harvard Medical School and has held faculty positions at the University of Brussels, Belgium, the NIH, Maryland, and the Picower Institute for Medical Research, New York.
- More scientific details, please
Other Professional Titles
Investigator, Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at Gladstone
Professor, Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Administrative Assistant
Veronica Fonseca
(415) 734-4809
vfonseca@gladstone.ucsf.eduAreas of Investigation
Our laboratory explores different aspects of the biology of reversible protein acetylation, a postranslational modification that is gaining increasing recognition as an important biological regulatory mechanism. We’re specifically interested in the enzymes that remove acetyl groups from protein called the histone/protein deacetylases (HDACs).
Current Lab Focus
What is the role of protein acetylation across the three following biological systems:
- Transcriptional regulation of HIV expression
- Mechanism of positive and negative selection during thymocyte development
- Role of mitochondrial protein deacetylases
Joined Gladstone
1997
Why Gladstone?
Gladstone offers a unique research environment at the interface between basic science and translational research
Key Achievements
- Solved the chromatin organization of the HIV promoter and identified a chromatin remodeling event occurring during transcriptional activation.
- First to report that the latent HIV promoter is reactivated by histone deacetylase inhibitors.
- Identified the first commercially available histone deacetylase inhibitor (SAHA-Vorinostat) in collaboration with Paul Marks group.
- Cloned and characterized HDAC3, HDAC4, HDAC5, HDAC6 and HDAC7.
- Identified the HIV Tat protein as an acetylated protein.
- Cloned and identified the mammalian sirtuins (SIRT1 through 7).
- Identified SIRT3 as a mitochondrial protein deacetylase and characterized its first target, acetylCoA synthetase.
- Identified HDAC7 as a regulator of thymic positive and negative selection.
- Reported that SIRT5 is a demalonylase, desuccinylase enzyme (collaboration with Yingming Zhou).
Education
University of Liege, Belgium (MD), Honors (1982)
Harvard Medical School, Joslin Diabetes Center, Postdoctoral trainingAffiliations
American Society for Microbiology
Molecular Medicine Society (Charter Member)
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) National Scientific Advisory CouncilEditorial Board, Chemtracts
Editorial Board, PLoS One
Editorial Board, Molecular Cellular Biology
Editorial Board, Virology
Editorial Board, Aging
Editorial Board, Clinical EpigeneticsAwards
- Recipient of the Avant-Garde Award from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) (2010)
- Co-organizer, Epigenetics Symposium (2008)
- Senior Scholar in Aging, Ellison Medical Foundation (2003)
- Chair, Novartis Symposium on Protein Acetylation, London (2003)
- Elected to American Society for Clinical Investigation (1999)
- Elected to Association of American Physicians (1997)
