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Name: Robert  Dickson
Position Type: Professorship
Appointment Start Date: 09/01/99
Appointment End Date:
Area of Specialty: Sphingolipids
Summary Vita: Education University of Redlands, Redlands, CA 1961 - 1965 B.S. (Biology) University of California, Los Angeles, CA 1966 - 1970 Ph.D. (Molecular Biology) Professional Experiences 1966 - 1970 Graduate student, Molecular Biology Institute, U.C.L.A. Dr. Frederic A. Eiserling, advisor 1970 - 1972 Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology. Dr. William B. Wood, advisor. 1972 - 1973 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Bacteriology, U.C.L.A. Dr. R. John Collier, advisor. 1973 - 1975 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of California, San Diego. Dr. John Abelson, advisor. Academic Appointments 1975 - 1979 Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 1979 - 1988 Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 1988 - present Professor, Department of Biochemistry University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Highest Degree: Ph.D.
Professional Affiliations: Seminars and Presentations Jan., 2006, Ventura, California, “Glycolipid and Sphingolipid Biology,” Discussion leader, Gordon Research Conference. June, 2005, Snowmass, Colorado, “Signaling functions for sphingolipid long chain bases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae” FASEB Summer Conference on Lysophospholipids and Related Bioactive Lipids in Biology and Diseases. May, 2005, Wales, United Kindgom, “Signaling functions for sphingolipid long chain bases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.” 7th Yeast Lipid Conference.
Primary Research Focus: Characterizing signal transduction pathways regulated by sphingolipids
Key Contributions: Identification of genes that encode enzymes for making and degrading sphingolipids.
Publications: Liu, K., Zhang, X., Lester, R. L. and Dickson R. C. (2005) The sphingolipid long chain bases phytosphingosine activates AGC kinases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae including Ypk1, Ypk2 and Sch9. J. Biol. Chem. 280:22679-22687. Zink, S., Mehlgarten, C., Kitamoto, H. K., Nagase, J., Jablonowski, D., Dickson, R. C., Star,k M. J. R. and Schaffrath, R. (2005) Mannosyl-diinositolphospho-ceramide, the major yeast plasma membrane sphingolipid, governs toxicity of the Kluyveromyces lactis zymocin. Eukaryotic Cell. 4:879-889. Liu, K., Zhang, X., Sumanasekera, C., Lester, R. L. and Dickson, R. C. (2005) Signaling Function for Sphingolipid Long Chain Bases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 33:1170-1173. Valachovic, M., Bareither, B. M., Bhuiyan, M. S. A., Eckstein, J., Barbuch, R., Balderes, D., Wilcox, L., Sturley, S. L., Dickson, R. C., and Bard, M. (2006) Cumulative mutations affecting sterol biosynthesis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae result in synthetic lethality that is suppressed by alterations in sphingolipid profiles. Genetics, 173:1893-1908. Dickson, R. C., Sumanasekera, C. and Lester, R. L. (2006) Function and Metabolism of Sphingolipids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Progress in Lipid Research, 45:447-465. Dickson, R. C. and Lester, R. L. (2006) Current Perspectives on Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sphingolipids. In “Biology of Sphingolipids,” eds. Hirabayashi, Y., Igarashi, Y., and Merrill, A. Jr. Springer, Toyko, pp. 141-150. Brace, J., L., Lester, R. L., Dickson, R. C. and Rudin, C. M. (2006) SVF1 Regulates Cell Survival by Affecting Sphingolipids Metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics, in press.