Sue Biggins

Biosketch

Sue Biggins studies the mechanisms that ensure accurate chromosome segregation and regulation of the cell cycle. Biggins grew up in Rhode Island and then obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from Stanford University. She performed her doctoral work in molecular biology at Princeton University followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. Andrew Murray?s lab at the University of California, San Francisco. She joined the faculty in the Division of Basic Sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in 2000 where she is currently a Senior Vice President and the Director of the Division of Basic Sciences. She is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Research Interests

Sue Biggins' lab focuses on chromosome segregation and the cell cycle. Her lab achieved the first isolation of kinetochores and then reconstituted kinetochoremicrotubule attachments in vitro. This led to the discovery that tension directly stabilizes kinetochore-microtubule attachments as well as to the first EM images of isolated kinetochores. They are currently applying structural, biophysical and biochemical techniques to elucidate the mechanisms of kinetochore-microtubule interactions as well as the controls over the spindle checkpoint. Her lab also works on the mechanisms that ensure accurate chromatin composition and centromere identity.