Samuel Sternberg, PhD

Sam Sternberg is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He was born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and earned his BA in biochemistry from Columbia University, where he trained with Professor Ruben Gonzalez. He earned his PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, under the mentorship of Professor Jennifer Doudna. He was awarded graduate student fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense, and received the Scaringe Award from the RNA Society and the Harold Weintraub Graduate Student Award from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. After a brief postdoc and book writing stint, Sam spent a year working at Caribou Biosciences, a Bay Area biotech start-up focusing on genome engineering applications, as a Scientist and Group Leader of Technology Development. He started his independent career in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia in February, 2018.

The Sternberg laboratory investigates the fundamental biology and biotechnology of mobile genetic elements and bacterial immune systems. The lab pioneered the discovery of CRISPR-associated transposases, which perform RNA-guided DNA integration, and has developed these systems for targeted gene insertion in bacterial and human cells. More recently, the lab has uncovered diverse antiviral reverse transcriptase systems that synthesize unusual DNA products — including de novo genes and protein-primed DNA polymers — to defend bacteria against phage infection. The group has also discovered transposon-derived RNA-guided proteins that have been repurposed during evolution as transcription factors and other regulators of gene expression. The laboratory combines biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, biophysics, and structural biology to reveal new mechanisms of genome defense, gene regulation, and genome evolution, with an eye toward translating mechanistic discoveries into new genome-engineering technologies.

Sam is committed to being a supportive mentor and effective lab manager, and to nurturing a collaborative research environment. He has closely mentored over two dozen undergraduate and graduate students, and has participated in numerous mentorship programs, including Student Mentoring and Research Teams (SMART) and Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Exceptional Research Opportunities Program (EXROP) at Berkeley. The desire to work with students in the lab was a major driver of Sam’s decision to transition from industry back to academia.

Outside of the lab, Sam is a passionate advocate for science communication and science outreach. He regularly presents to public audiences on the discovery of CRISPR–Cas immune systems and the ensuing gene-editing revolution, including a TEDMED talk in 2015, and has co-authored a pop-sci book with Jennifer Doudna on the same topic, titled A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution. Their book received enthusiastic reviews from The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian, among other outlets, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The New York Review of Books called it “required reading for every concerned citizen.”

Email

shs2107@cumc.columbia.edu
shsternberg@gmail.com