Helen M. Berman

. [ [http://sciencewomen.rutgers.edu/profiles/?a=display&f=girlgeeks&id=275 Rutgers: Women in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics- Girl Geeks/My Story] ] Dr. Berman has contributed significantly to the understanding of the relationship between the structural properties of biological molecules and their biological functions. Her research focuses primarily on the structures of protein-nucleic acid complexes and the role of water as a mediator in intermolecular interactions. [ [http://sciencewomen.rutgers.edu/profiles/?a=display&f=facultyprofile&id=275 Helen Berman’s story at the Rutgers Office for Promotion of Women in Science website] ]

Dr. Berman also spearheaded the creation of the Nucleic Acid Database in 1991, and was named director of the Protein Data Bank, which was moved to the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RSCB) at Rutgers [ [http://www.rcsb.org Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics ] ] in 1998. The RCSB is a member of the Worldwide PDB [ [http://www.wwpdb.org/ The worldwide PDB] ] whose mission is to ensure that the PDB archive remains an international resource with uniform data. The PDB is also expanded its territory from archiving biomolecules to structural genomics. [ [http://kb.psi-structuralgenomics.org/KB/ The structural Genomics Knowledge base] ]

Both Berman’s efforts have greatly helped the scientific community establish methods to collect, archive, and analyze structural data. Her most cited article has 5,006 cites to date: [ [http://in-cites.com/papers/HelenBerman.html An interview with Helen Berman] ]

Education

Dr. Berman received her A.B. from Barnard College in 1964.After that, she went to the University of Pittsburgh to study crystallography, one of the places in the United States where this was offered as a subject. Berman worked for George A. Jeffrey, a British small-molecule crystallographer, and studied carbohydrate structures.After obtaining her Ph. D in 1967, she stayed on for two more years at the University of Pittsburgh to complete a post-doc.

Professional career

From 1969 to 1989, Berman worked at the Fox Chase Cancer Center, first as a research associate for Jenny P. Glusker, a Dorothy Hodgkin trainee. Her focus was on nucleic acid crystallography and the interactions between nucleic acids and drugs. Soon after, she developed her own research program and was appointed in an independent position at Fox Chase, and progressed to become a Senior Member.

In 1989, Berman moved to Rutgers, where she studied nucleic acids and collagen structures and started the Nucleic Acid Database (NDB). This led to collaboration with the Protein Data Bank (PDB) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, which was an archive of data from crystallographic and NMR experiments that she had helped establish in 1971.

Since 1998, Berman has been the Director of the PDB, responsible for managing this international resource used by researchers, scientists, and educators from all kinds of disciplines.

Community Activities

Helen Berman had held a great number of positions in several committees in the field of crystallography [ [http://sciencewomen.rutgers.edu/profiles/?a=display&f=cv&id=275 Helen Berman’s resume] ] . Among her many activities, she was President of the American Crystallographic Association (ACA) in 1988, a member of the Study Section for the National Institutes of Health in 1986 and 1990, and a member of advisory Committee for the Biological Sciences at the National Science Foundation.

Awards

• Board of Governors Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Fellow of the Biophysical Society
• 2000 Distinguished Service Award, Biophysical Society
• 2006 M.J. Buerger Award [ [http://aca.hwi.buffalo.edu/awardpglist/Buerger.html The M.J Buerger Award website] ]
• 2007-2009 Distinguished Lecturer, Sigma Xi [ [http://rutchem.rutgers.edu/content_dynamic/faculty/helen_m_berman.shtml Helen M. Berman - Rutgers Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department] ]

References