Prof. Steve A. Kay
Dean-Division of Biological Sciences and Distinguished Professor and Richard C. Atkinson Chair in the Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego
Dr. Kay received his bachelors' degree in biochemistry in 1981 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1985 from the University of Bristol. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Rockefeller University from 1985-1989, and then Assistant Professor there from 1989-1992, where he established his research program in the molecular genetics of circadian rhythms. In 1992, he joined the University of Virginia, where he developed real-time luciferase reporter technology for measuring subcellular events in live plants and animals. This technology was used to identify several key clock genes in both systems using genetic screens. During his tenure at The Scripps Research Institute from 1996-2007, he further investigated the molecular components and mechanism of action of circadian clocks, ranging from the mechanism of day length sensing in plants to behavioral control in mammals. He has pioneered to the use of large scale genomics tools to investigate the composition and structure of circadian networks. He has received several awards, including a Keck Foundation Faculty Award in 1992, the Honma Prize for Life Sciences in 1999 and his work was cited in Science