Sung Hee Ahn-Upton

B.A., Oberlin College
Regulation of Histone Covalent Modifications during Yeast Apoptosis
presented by C. David Allis

It is my great pleasure to introduce Sung Hee Ahn-Upton, my first Rockefeller graduate student. Sung, as she is called, was always ahead of me. When we first met at the University of Virginia, I mentioned to her that I might be moving to Rockefeller. She replied, “I know,” and things never changed. Sung joined my lab as a well-trained yeast geneticist from Steve Kron’s laboratory at the University of Chicago, following her graduation from Oberlin College with high honors and many awards. Using yeast as a model, Sung elegantly combined genetic and biochemical approaches to better understand mechanisms underlying chromatin compaction during late stages of programmed cell death, or apoptosis. In pursuit of this goal, she uncovered an unexpected “death code” in one of the major histone proteins, a code that appears conserved from yeast to humans. Her work has rewritten the book on cis mechanisms that condense chromatin, governed by upstream signaling pathways. She discovered the single most striking histone gene mutation that affects chromatin condensation, providing a rich foundation for future generations of chromatin biologists.

For her work, Sung has received much recognition and high praise from leaders in the fields of chromatin biology and apoptosis. Notably, Sung is a recipient of the 2007 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, a highly competitive international award that recognizes the top-most tier of excellence in graduate studies.

As a footnote, Sung is a musician and, most recently, a mom. Tim Richmond, a notable in the chromatin field and someone with whom Sung did a mini-sabbatical in Zurich, Switzerland, wrote recently, “Please give my congratulations to Sung. Motherhood probably won’t slow her down much.” In sum, I have learned more from Sung than I have taught her. I have learned from her remarkable science. But mostly, I have learned from, and been inspired by, her quiet courage and class in overcoming several personal obstacles.