Dr. Corinne A. Michels, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor Emerita
Biology Department
Queens College and the Graduate School of CUNY
Distinguished Professor Emerita
Biology Department
Queens College and the Graduate School of CUNY
Professional life overview
Dr. Michels' professional career is dedicated to genetics - its teaching and use as a research tool to study all areas of biology and medicine. She first became interested in genetics as a college student majoring in biology. The Nobel Prize had recently been awarded to James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins (1962) for revealing the structure of DNA and proposing how this molecule, known since 1943 to be the hereditary material, could duplicate and encode information for the formation of a living organism. After taking a course in biochemical genetics and learning about the work of other Nobel laureates who studied genetics, like Thomas Hunt Morgan (1933) of white eyed fruit fly fame; George Beadle and Edward Tatum (1958), the originators of the “one gene – one enzyme” hypothesis; and Joshua Lederberg (1958), who mapped the E. coli chromosome, Dr. Michels was hooked. She decided to train to be a geneticist with the goal of understanding the molecular basis of heredity, embryological development, disease, and human evolution. But it was only after the completion of her college senior thesis, on what was to be the Nobel Prize winning work of François Jacob, André Lwoff, and Jacques Monod (1965) on the genetic control of enzyme synthesis and virus replication, that she focused specifically on the regulation of gene expression. Dr. Michels' interest in genetics and the genetic approach to problem solving has been sustained throughout her career.
The common thread that runs through Dr. Michels' research and through each of these Nobel award winning studies listed above is the use of genetic methodologies to uncover the mechanisms that underly the functioning of living systems. During the past 50 plus years genetic techniques developed into extremely powerful tools for biological research, tools that allow researchers to reveal the underlying mechanism of a biological process not simply describe it. Genetics analysis as a field has also undergone a major conversion. It has progressed from basic Mendelian genetic analysis to the use of sophisticated genetic tools like epistasis and suppressor analysis. The field of molecular genetic analysis was spawned based on the development of the tools of genetic engineering. DNA sequencing techniques are advancing at breakneck speed so that the cost and time to sequence and analyze large genomes like the human genome has become an affordable part of personalized healthcare. Since 1995 alone, the tools of molecular genetic analysis have been used for five Nobel Prize award winning studies: Edward B. Lewis, Christiane Nűsseline-Volhard and Eric F. Wieschaus’s research on developmental genetics of fruit flies (1995); Leland H. Hartwell, Tim Hunt and Paul Nurse’s work on the cell cycle in yeast (2001); and Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz, and John E. Sulton’s studies of cell death in C. elegans (2002); Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello for their discovery of RNAi – gene silencing (2006); Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak for their studies of telomere biology (2009); and James E. Rothman, Randy W. Scheckman, and Thomas C. Sudhof for their work on vesicle transport in cells (2013). Dr. Michels has had the privilege of being a participant during this monumental transition of biology. Her research has and continues to move forward with this ever-changing field and uses the most cutting edge methods to answer questions of current interest and importance to human health. Genetics and the use of genetic approaches in biological research are the themes of her research and teaching career.
Saccharomyces is a preeminent model genetic system for the study of basic cell biology and biochemistry. While on the faculty of Queens College and the Graduate School of CUNY, Dr. Michels used Saccharomyces to investigate the regulation of genes whose expression initially appeared to be quite simple. Like most things in living systems this turned out to be far more complex than anyone might have imagined and she investigated these complexities as completely as possible. Dr. Michels followed the research paths as they developed before her. She expanded her technical expertise and knowledge as needed. "I kept my eyes open for the interesting and novel results and pursued them. It has been and continues to be a very exciting adventure."
The common thread that runs through Dr. Michels' research and through each of these Nobel award winning studies listed above is the use of genetic methodologies to uncover the mechanisms that underly the functioning of living systems. During the past 50 plus years genetic techniques developed into extremely powerful tools for biological research, tools that allow researchers to reveal the underlying mechanism of a biological process not simply describe it. Genetics analysis as a field has also undergone a major conversion. It has progressed from basic Mendelian genetic analysis to the use of sophisticated genetic tools like epistasis and suppressor analysis. The field of molecular genetic analysis was spawned based on the development of the tools of genetic engineering. DNA sequencing techniques are advancing at breakneck speed so that the cost and time to sequence and analyze large genomes like the human genome has become an affordable part of personalized healthcare. Since 1995 alone, the tools of molecular genetic analysis have been used for five Nobel Prize award winning studies: Edward B. Lewis, Christiane Nűsseline-Volhard and Eric F. Wieschaus’s research on developmental genetics of fruit flies (1995); Leland H. Hartwell, Tim Hunt and Paul Nurse’s work on the cell cycle in yeast (2001); and Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz, and John E. Sulton’s studies of cell death in C. elegans (2002); Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello for their discovery of RNAi – gene silencing (2006); Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak for their studies of telomere biology (2009); and James E. Rothman, Randy W. Scheckman, and Thomas C. Sudhof for their work on vesicle transport in cells (2013). Dr. Michels has had the privilege of being a participant during this monumental transition of biology. Her research has and continues to move forward with this ever-changing field and uses the most cutting edge methods to answer questions of current interest and importance to human health. Genetics and the use of genetic approaches in biological research are the themes of her research and teaching career.
Saccharomyces is a preeminent model genetic system for the study of basic cell biology and biochemistry. While on the faculty of Queens College and the Graduate School of CUNY, Dr. Michels used Saccharomyces to investigate the regulation of genes whose expression initially appeared to be quite simple. Like most things in living systems this turned out to be far more complex than anyone might have imagined and she investigated these complexities as completely as possible. Dr. Michels followed the research paths as they developed before her. She expanded her technical expertise and knowledge as needed. "I kept my eyes open for the interesting and novel results and pursued them. It has been and continues to be a very exciting adventure."
Curriculum vitae [PDF]
Education
Dr. Michels graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Queens College, Flushing, NY in 1963 with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. Her graduate studies were done in the Department of Biological Sciences of Columbia University, New York where she earned a MS in 1965 and a PhD in 1969. During doctoral studies, she was supported by a Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Her doctoral thesis research, mentored by David Zipser, investigated the E. coli Lac operon, specifically an analysis of cryptic translation initiation signals within the lacZ gene.
Dr. Michels' postdoctoral studies were supported by a National Research Service Award from the NIH. She worked briefly with Cyrus Levinthal at Columbia University, where she continued studies on the E. coli Lac operon. In 1970, Dr. Michels began studies with Julius Marmur in the Biochemistry Department of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. It was in Prof. Marmur's laboratory that she began working on Saccharomyces cerevisiae, baker's and brewer's yeast, a genetically tractable eukaryote, organisms with nucleated cells.
Professional positions
Dr. Michels joined the faculty of the Queens College Biology Department in 1972, initially as an Instructor. She was appointed a tenure-tract position as Assistant Professor of Biology in 1973 and rose through the ranks achieving tenure, promotion to Associate Professor, and then to Professor of Biology. During these years, she was appointed to a faculty position in the Ph.D. Program in Biology and the Ph.D. Program in Biochemistry of the Graduate School of CUNY. Dr. Michels served on a large variety of committees at the Department, College, and University level.
In 2003, Dr. Michels was appointed to the rank of CUNY Distinguished Professor. This prestigious appointment is based on international reputation and, in the sciences, a strong record of success at obtaining research grants. Of the approximately 5,000 CUNY faculty only 125 can achieve the rank of Distinguished Professor. Dr. Michels' record of research funding was called "remarkable". She maintained 30 years of continuous support from the National Institutes of Health for her Saccharomyces research. During a 4 year of this 30 year period, Dr. Michels had two concurrent awards, one for her work on the regulation of MAL gene expression and the second on her studies of glucose repression of maltose permease. Additionally, she received conference travel and sabbatical awards from the National Science Foundation and a Major Research Instrumentation award from the National Science Foundation to purchase equipment for the Biology Department's Research Core Facilities. Dr. Michels was involved in the writing of two successful Science Education awards from the Howard Hughes Medical Foundation and in several other awards to Queens College and CUNY.
Dr. Michels spent 1979 - 1980 on sabbatical at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, where she was appointed a Visiting Scientist. Dr. Michels worked with the "Yeast Group" - Jim Hicks, Amar Klar, and Jeff Strathern - and learned how to carry out genetic engineering techniques in yeast and E. coli. Dr. Michels spent her 1987 - 1988 sabbatical as a Visiting Professor in the Microbiology and Immunology Department of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. Here she worked with Howard Shuman, known for his research on maltose transport in E. coli and Legionella genetics. This year was spent learning to work with proteins, specifically integral membrane proteins like the maltose permease. Dr. Michels' 1987-1988 sabbatical year was supported by an award from the National Science Foundation.
Among her services to the profession, Dr. Michels was a member of the Genetics Study Section of the NIH from 1991-95. She served on several other peer review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, including for Program Project grants, career advancement awards, research awards, and Major Research Instrumentation awards. She reviewed graduate education awards for the National Research Council for pre-doctoral scholarships for the Howard Hughes Medical Foundation and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Michels is regularly asked to serve as peer reviewer for several professional journals and served as an organizer of a number of Yeast Genetics conferences for the Genetics Society of America.
In 2001, Dr. Michels was elected chair of the Biology Department of Queens College - CUNY. She was re-elected several times and continued in that position until her retirement in 2011. Her accomplishments are described below.
Over the course of her academic career, Dr. Michels mentored the thesis research of 18 doctoral students, 6 masters students, and numerous undergraduate and advanced high school students.
While Dr. Michels no longer maintains a research laboratory she has an office at Queens College and continues an official affiliation with the College and CUNY as Distinguished Professor Emerita. Most importantly, she remains actively involved in two scientific research projects - anti-microbial copper and Usher syndrome (see below). She volunteers her time as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Science Museum of Long Island in Manhasset, NY and is editor-in-chief of the Queens College Biology Department's newsletter Biology Currents. Check out the Biology Department web site for archived issues.
Chair of Queens College Biology Department
Dr. Michels served as Chair of the Queens College Biology Department from January 2001 until her retirement in January 2011. During this 10 year period, the Biology Department flourished. The number of faculty increased by over 50% tenure-track professorial and College Laboratory Technicians, and two Lecturer positions were created. The Department expanded the research Core Facilities and added a dedicated facility manager to oversee its use. By the time of her retirement, more than 80% of the faculty and staff had joined the Department since 2001. The Department expanded the number of doctoral and masters students doing their thesis research with Biology faculty. Research and teaching grant funding increased significantly as new and established faculty received awards from federal and private foundations.
Enrollment in Biology Department classes increased significantly as did the number of students graduating with a major in Biology, Biology Education, and a Master of Science in Biology. Along with this, the profile of the Biology Department also changed. The Department's curriculum was reorganized and made more current with the addition of courses in cell, developmental, and molecular biology, molecular genetics, and evolutionary genomics. While the course offerings continued to focus on teaching the fundamentals, involving students in faculty research became a more central feature of the curriculum, in part as a vehicle for teaching critical thinking skills. Major efforts were made to increase course offerings for the non-science majors that enabled them to meet the College's General Education science requirement, including courses on human evolution and human genetics.
Dr. Michels graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Queens College, Flushing, NY in 1963 with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. Her graduate studies were done in the Department of Biological Sciences of Columbia University, New York where she earned a MS in 1965 and a PhD in 1969. During doctoral studies, she was supported by a Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Her doctoral thesis research, mentored by David Zipser, investigated the E. coli Lac operon, specifically an analysis of cryptic translation initiation signals within the lacZ gene.
Dr. Michels' postdoctoral studies were supported by a National Research Service Award from the NIH. She worked briefly with Cyrus Levinthal at Columbia University, where she continued studies on the E. coli Lac operon. In 1970, Dr. Michels began studies with Julius Marmur in the Biochemistry Department of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. It was in Prof. Marmur's laboratory that she began working on Saccharomyces cerevisiae, baker's and brewer's yeast, a genetically tractable eukaryote, organisms with nucleated cells.
Professional positions
Dr. Michels joined the faculty of the Queens College Biology Department in 1972, initially as an Instructor. She was appointed a tenure-tract position as Assistant Professor of Biology in 1973 and rose through the ranks achieving tenure, promotion to Associate Professor, and then to Professor of Biology. During these years, she was appointed to a faculty position in the Ph.D. Program in Biology and the Ph.D. Program in Biochemistry of the Graduate School of CUNY. Dr. Michels served on a large variety of committees at the Department, College, and University level.
In 2003, Dr. Michels was appointed to the rank of CUNY Distinguished Professor. This prestigious appointment is based on international reputation and, in the sciences, a strong record of success at obtaining research grants. Of the approximately 5,000 CUNY faculty only 125 can achieve the rank of Distinguished Professor. Dr. Michels' record of research funding was called "remarkable". She maintained 30 years of continuous support from the National Institutes of Health for her Saccharomyces research. During a 4 year of this 30 year period, Dr. Michels had two concurrent awards, one for her work on the regulation of MAL gene expression and the second on her studies of glucose repression of maltose permease. Additionally, she received conference travel and sabbatical awards from the National Science Foundation and a Major Research Instrumentation award from the National Science Foundation to purchase equipment for the Biology Department's Research Core Facilities. Dr. Michels was involved in the writing of two successful Science Education awards from the Howard Hughes Medical Foundation and in several other awards to Queens College and CUNY.
Dr. Michels spent 1979 - 1980 on sabbatical at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, where she was appointed a Visiting Scientist. Dr. Michels worked with the "Yeast Group" - Jim Hicks, Amar Klar, and Jeff Strathern - and learned how to carry out genetic engineering techniques in yeast and E. coli. Dr. Michels spent her 1987 - 1988 sabbatical as a Visiting Professor in the Microbiology and Immunology Department of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. Here she worked with Howard Shuman, known for his research on maltose transport in E. coli and Legionella genetics. This year was spent learning to work with proteins, specifically integral membrane proteins like the maltose permease. Dr. Michels' 1987-1988 sabbatical year was supported by an award from the National Science Foundation.
Among her services to the profession, Dr. Michels was a member of the Genetics Study Section of the NIH from 1991-95. She served on several other peer review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, including for Program Project grants, career advancement awards, research awards, and Major Research Instrumentation awards. She reviewed graduate education awards for the National Research Council for pre-doctoral scholarships for the Howard Hughes Medical Foundation and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Michels is regularly asked to serve as peer reviewer for several professional journals and served as an organizer of a number of Yeast Genetics conferences for the Genetics Society of America.
In 2001, Dr. Michels was elected chair of the Biology Department of Queens College - CUNY. She was re-elected several times and continued in that position until her retirement in 2011. Her accomplishments are described below.
Over the course of her academic career, Dr. Michels mentored the thesis research of 18 doctoral students, 6 masters students, and numerous undergraduate and advanced high school students.
While Dr. Michels no longer maintains a research laboratory she has an office at Queens College and continues an official affiliation with the College and CUNY as Distinguished Professor Emerita. Most importantly, she remains actively involved in two scientific research projects - anti-microbial copper and Usher syndrome (see below). She volunteers her time as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Science Museum of Long Island in Manhasset, NY and is editor-in-chief of the Queens College Biology Department's newsletter Biology Currents. Check out the Biology Department web site for archived issues.
Chair of Queens College Biology Department
Dr. Michels served as Chair of the Queens College Biology Department from January 2001 until her retirement in January 2011. During this 10 year period, the Biology Department flourished. The number of faculty increased by over 50% tenure-track professorial and College Laboratory Technicians, and two Lecturer positions were created. The Department expanded the research Core Facilities and added a dedicated facility manager to oversee its use. By the time of her retirement, more than 80% of the faculty and staff had joined the Department since 2001. The Department expanded the number of doctoral and masters students doing their thesis research with Biology faculty. Research and teaching grant funding increased significantly as new and established faculty received awards from federal and private foundations.
Enrollment in Biology Department classes increased significantly as did the number of students graduating with a major in Biology, Biology Education, and a Master of Science in Biology. Along with this, the profile of the Biology Department also changed. The Department's curriculum was reorganized and made more current with the addition of courses in cell, developmental, and molecular biology, molecular genetics, and evolutionary genomics. While the course offerings continued to focus on teaching the fundamentals, involving students in faculty research became a more central feature of the curriculum, in part as a vehicle for teaching critical thinking skills. Major efforts were made to increase course offerings for the non-science majors that enabled them to meet the College's General Education science requirement, including courses on human evolution and human genetics.
Corinne Michels achieved an international reputation for her investigations on the regulation of gene expression. Her work has been praised as “pathbreaking,” “truly exceptional,” and “novel, unexpected and exciting.” While at Queens College, her research utilized the genetic model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae, baker’s and brewer’s yeast, and molecular genetic analysis tools. She focused on the seemingly simple regulated genetic system for the utilization of the sugar maltose as a model for regulated transcription. The results led to studies of genome organization, multicopy gene families, regulated endocytosis, proteolysis, and molecular chaperones. Most recently, Dr. Michels actively involved in two research projects. She joined a team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health that is carrying out a clinical study of a group of human inherited deaf – blindness disorders called Usher syndrome. Dr. Michels’ component of the project will be carried out at the Helen Keller National Center for the Deaf – Blind where she will be working with colleagues from New York Medical College who specialize in the low vision disorders. Dr. Michels is also collaborating with Associate Professor Nidhi Gadura of the Biology and Geology Department of Queensborough Community College - CUNY. They are investigating the mechanism of copper alloy surface contact killing of microbial organisms.
Saccharomyces MAL gene regulation. Saccharomyces is an ideal organism to study the regulation of transcription in response to environmental changes. Saccharomyces is a single celled microorganism with a membrane-bound nucleus containing histone-bound DNA chromosomes and membrane-bound subcellular organelles like mitochondria. It utilizes basic biochemical processes that are amazingly similar to those found in multi-celled organisms like mammals and fruit flies. One can carry out basic Mendelian genetic analysis easily with Saccharomyces and, over the past decades, a large number of elegant molecular genetic tools have been developed by the yeast community. The regulation of gene expression is fundamental to embryological development in multi-celled organisms and inappropriate gene expression underlies many human diseases. Thus, Saccharomyces is the experimental organism of choice to investigate this process. More detail about Dr. Michels finding in this area of research can be found on the Yeast page.
Usher Syndrome. Usher syndrome is a group of inherited deaf-blindness disorders sometimes associated with balance problems. Three clinical types of Usher syndrome have been described that are distinguished largely by a characterization of the patient’s history of hearing loss, balance difficulties, and the development of night blindness due to retinitis pigmentosa. Dr. Michels teamed up with colleagues at the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind to join with an NIH clinical study on the "Genetics and Natural History of Usher syndrome". The project is described on the Usher Syndrome Genetics page.
Mechanism of copper-alloy surfaces toxicity. In collaboration with Associate Professor Nidhi Gadura of Queensborough Community College - CUNY, Dr. Michels is investigating the mechanism of anti-microbial killing by copper and copper alloy surfaces described on the Anti-microbial Copper page. The project is investigating the mechanism of copper contact killing in order to understand the absence of copper-surface resistant mutant strains, a very significant issue affecting the incorporation of copper alloy surfaces in hospitals and other venues.
Saccharomyces MAL gene regulation. Saccharomyces is an ideal organism to study the regulation of transcription in response to environmental changes. Saccharomyces is a single celled microorganism with a membrane-bound nucleus containing histone-bound DNA chromosomes and membrane-bound subcellular organelles like mitochondria. It utilizes basic biochemical processes that are amazingly similar to those found in multi-celled organisms like mammals and fruit flies. One can carry out basic Mendelian genetic analysis easily with Saccharomyces and, over the past decades, a large number of elegant molecular genetic tools have been developed by the yeast community. The regulation of gene expression is fundamental to embryological development in multi-celled organisms and inappropriate gene expression underlies many human diseases. Thus, Saccharomyces is the experimental organism of choice to investigate this process. More detail about Dr. Michels finding in this area of research can be found on the Yeast page.
Usher Syndrome. Usher syndrome is a group of inherited deaf-blindness disorders sometimes associated with balance problems. Three clinical types of Usher syndrome have been described that are distinguished largely by a characterization of the patient’s history of hearing loss, balance difficulties, and the development of night blindness due to retinitis pigmentosa. Dr. Michels teamed up with colleagues at the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind to join with an NIH clinical study on the "Genetics and Natural History of Usher syndrome". The project is described on the Usher Syndrome Genetics page.
Mechanism of copper-alloy surfaces toxicity. In collaboration with Associate Professor Nidhi Gadura of Queensborough Community College - CUNY, Dr. Michels is investigating the mechanism of anti-microbial killing by copper and copper alloy surfaces described on the Anti-microbial Copper page. The project is investigating the mechanism of copper contact killing in order to understand the absence of copper-surface resistant mutant strains, a very significant issue affecting the incorporation of copper alloy surfaces in hospitals and other venues.
Teaching philosophy
During her career at Queens College and the Graduate School of CUNY, Dr. Michels taught a variety of courses, mostly on genetics, molecular genetics, and biochemistry. About 10 years ago she came to realize that the students in her classes were learning about genes and the mechanisms of heredity but were not learning how this information becomes known to the investigator. How does one do genetics in the laboratory? What methods are used and what are the basic tools? She decided to teach this aspect of genetics in addition to the usual content taking a case study approach. Students read the original scientific journal articles and learned the tools of the trade directly from the researchers themselves. The result is Dr. Michels book, Genetic Techniques for Biological Research: A Case Study Approach, published by John Wiley & Sons, London in 2002. The book was very well received by the field, called “unique” by a reviewer. The book is widely used in both the classroom and as research laboratory resource. It represents the first time that all of the sophisticated genetic techniques developed over the last 50 years, such as suppression analysis and enhancement, are described in a single publication. The goal was not only to describe these methods but to present the methods in a manner that would allow the reader to adapt their use to their own research project. The book has made a significant contribution to the field of genetics, its teaching, and its appreciation as a research tool. The tools are useful for researchers using genetic model systems but can even be used to analyze biochemical pathways with in vitro systems. The book presents the critical thinking methods that underlie the many genetic techniques developed over the last century and shows the reader by example how to use these methods to tease apart any experimental problem. Four series of original journal articles, or case studies, are used to step-by-step show the reader how to work these tools in their own research. The techniques start with classic Mendelian genetics and extent to molecular genetics tools. The case studies each include 12-14 articles on the cell cycle, vesicle transport, glucose repression, and intracellular signaling each accompanied by a list of questions designed to focus the reader on how to interpret data and the development of analytical critical thinking skills. Genetic analysis is an exceedingly powerful research tool, as should be obvious from the many Nobel Prizes that have been awarded to scientists that use these methods.