Lucia B. Rothman-Denes

Rothman-Denes was born in Buenos Aires in 1943 to Boris and Carmen Rothman.[1] She studied at the University of Buenos Aires and graduated in 1964 with a licenciada degree in chemistry.[1] She remained there for her graduate studies, earning a PhD in biochemistry in 1967.[2] She worked at the Leloir Institute. Rothman-Denes completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.[1] She also spent time at the University of California, San Diego with E. Peter Geiduschek.[3]

In 1967, Rothman-Denes was appointed to the faculty at the University of Chicago.[4] She was made a Full Professor in 1984, and the A. J. Carlson Professor in 2015.[5][6] She studies how bacterial viruses impact the molecular processes within a host.[1] She uncovered mechanisms of transcription regulation through DNA structural transitions. Rothman-Denes combines biophysical, biochemical and structural characterisation techniques to understand gene expression at the level of transcription.[7] She is particularly interested in DNA-dependent RNA polymerase.[2]

Rothman-Denes' current work considers the mechanism at the onset of an injection, when proteins and genomes are injected into a host.[2] She is also working on the characterisation of viral-encoded products that inhibit the essential function of the host. She studies the target of these viral-encoded products in an effort to design new antibiotics.[1] She served on the board of governors of the American Society for Microbiology from 2000 to 2003.