Kellogg honored for insight into mechanics of biological systems

Elizabeth H. Kellogg, the Robert N. Noyce Assistant Professor in Life Science and Technology in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, College of Arts and Sciences, will receive the 2023 Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award from the Biophysical Society.

“Dr. Kellogg is renowned for her expertise in structural biology,” said Gail Robertson, president of the Biophysical Society and professor of neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We are proud to recognize her exceptional research and leadership, and to add her name to the list of celebrated women in biophysics.”

The award is given each year to a woman who has achieved prominence while in the early stages of a career in biophysical research, honoring the memory of Dr. Margaret Dayhoff, professor of biophysics at Georgetown University, director of research at the National Biomedical Research Foundation and former president of the Biophysical Society.

Kellogg studies the mechanisms of molecular innovation, asking timely questions related to human health and disease. Her lab seeks to unravel the molecular mechanisms that drive transposons, an evolutionary force that reshapes genomes. Her lab is also interested in developing ways to re-engineer them using computational protein engineering.

In 2021, Kellogg was named to the Pew Scholars Program to pursue research into advancing gene editing capability. Her work on this project seeks to harness the power of transposons as novel genome-editing tools, building on gene editing technology of CRISPR-Cas.

Kellogg will be honored at the society’s annual meeting in San Diego in February.