Elaine Fuchs

Elaine V. Fuchs is an American cell biologist, famous for her work on the biology and molecular mechanisms of mammalian skin and skin diseases, who helped lead the modernization of dermatology. Fuchs pioneered reverse genetics approaches, which assess protein function first and then assess its role in development and disease. In particular, Fuchs researches skin stem cells, and their production of hair and skin. She is an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development at The Rockefeller University.

Elaine Fuchs
Fuchs at the 2010 UNESCO-L’Oréal Prize for Women in Science Awards Ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris
Alma materUniversity of Illinois
OccupationCell biologist
Spouse(s)David Hansen

Early life and education

[1] Fuchs grew up outside Chicago, in a family of scientists—her father, aunt, and sister were also scientists, and her family encouraged her to pursue higher education.[2] She feels that those influences were especially important to her as a child. During an interview with Faiza Elmasry in 2010, Fuchs said, "I think like many of the children in our world, I got interested in science just from having a butterfly net and from having a few strainers and some boots and going down to the streams and creeks and being out in the fields." [3] Even her mother, who was a homemaker, inspired her to pursue her interest in science at a time when not many women went into the scientific fields. "She was a housewife but she took pride in everything that she did. She encouraged my sister and me in all different ways. My mom always said, 'You're a good cook, you'll make a fine scientist,' when I told her that I like science. So I think those kinds of little things maybe are more important that any of the bigger things." [3]

Fuchs earned a B.S. in chemistry in 1972 from the University of Illinois, graduating with highest distinction in the Chemical Sciences. She began as one of only three women in an undergraduate physics class of 200. Fuchs was politically active during college, protesting the Vietnam War and applying to the Peace Corps with the intention of being posted in Chile. However, when she was instead assigned to Uganda, then under the dictatorship of Idi Amin, she elected to go directly to graduate school.[2]

When applying to graduate school, Fuchs refused to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). During an interview in 2009, Fuchs stated, “…I felt that the Graduate Record Examination wasn’t testing my real knowledge, but rather how I could perform in a written exam.” Instead, she submitted a three-page explanation with her applications explaining why she would not be taking the GRE. Though she was accepted everywhere she applied, she admits that her defiant statement would not likely be looked upon the same way today. “I don’t think professors are as open-minded toward rebellious students as they were during the Vietnam War era.” [4]

Fuchs earned her Ph.D. in biochemical sciences from Princeton University in 1977. Her doctoral dissertation was titled "The biosynthesis and assembly of the peptidoglycan sacculus of Bacillus Megatorium."[5] Fuchs began her work on skin biology during her postdoctoral work with Howard Green at MIT. In Green's lab she studied the mechanisms underlying growth and differentiation in epidermal keratinocytes.

Career and Research

Fuchs accepted a faculty position at the University of Chicago in 1980 and was the first woman in the biochemistry department.[6] Her first publications there reported the first cloning and sequencing of keratin cDNAs that characterized the two types of keratins.,[7][8] At the University of Chicago she was mentored and befriended by Janet Rowley and Susan Lindquist; they eventually all joined the reorganized Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, in which Fuchs was ultimately appointed the Amgen Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology. In 2002, Fuchs accepted a position at Rockefeller University, where she is currently the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Fuchs is known for her study of skin, identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying skin disease, developing the field of skin stem cells, and pioneering reverse genetics.

Her Dickson Prize nominator said that "Her innovative reverse genetic approach and landmark discoveries in our understanding of the underlying bases for inherited human disorders and cancers places her in the top cadre of the most creative scientists worldwide." She is listed as one of the Internation Scientific Indexing's most highly cited researchers.[9]

Fuchs uses the mouse and mammalian epithelial stem cell culture as model systems.

Recently, she has been devoting her research to studies on the role stem cells play in the regeneration of tissue, as well as the competing demands of proliferation and differentiation in maintaining enough stem cells.[10] One of her more recent papers gives an overview of epithelial stem cells and how they maintain homeostasis. This could have implications for stem cells, cancer, wound healing, and tissue repair and regeneration.[11]

Reverse Genetics

Fuchs developed the reverse genetics approach when she began as an assistant professor at the university of Chicago.[12] Contrasting to forward genetics, reverse genetics seeks to understand the genetic basis of a disease by examining how transgenes affect phenotype. Fuchs first applied the technique by engineering a gene that affected keratin function and disrupted the framework of cells. Inserting this mutant keratin into transgenic mice caused heavy epidermal blistering; analysis showed this blistering to be nearly identical to the dermatological disorder, epidermolysis bullosa simplex. Subsequent collaboration with dermatologists to obtain skin samples from patients with the dermatological disorder revealed that a similar mutation in keratin genes indeed underlies epidermolysis bullosa simplex.[13]

Stem Cells in Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Elaine Fuchs and her team have conducted research on the way that cancerous stem cells called squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) interact with their microenvironments. SCCs are relevant to cancer research because they are some of the most common and dangerous cancers worldwide.[14] By examining skin cancer in mice, she concluded that the speed at which stem cells will divide and how they divide is dependent on their niche. She examined the inhibitory signaling molecule, TGF-β, which is found near the blood vessels of a tumor. Although the effects of TGF-β and how it restrains normal skin cell growth had been studied by researchers before Fuchs, she specifically looked at the intermediate steps of tumor progression by creating a TGF-β reporter system. She accomplished this by developing tumors that expressed a gene commonly found in skin cancer cells, HRasD12V. Her research demonstrated that the cancerous stem cells lacking the TGF-β signal proliferate more quickly but are sensitive to antiproliferative drugs. This is unlike the cancerous stem cells that received the TGF-β signal, which proliferated at a slower rate than those lacking the TGF-β signal but were resistant to antiproliferative drugs. Furthermore, she showed that the heterogeneity of the microenvironment within SCCs with regard to TGF-β signaling resulted in cells rich in TGF-β that were chemotherapy resistant to be cells located close to the perivasculature.[14] She showed the ability of TGF-β to cause upregulation of the glutathione pathway, which allowed the SCCs to counter the radical oxygen species often used in radiotherapy and chemotherapy.[15] Fuchs determined that both the factors internal to the cell and the cell's external surrounding environment have an effect on the stem cells’ niche in both their ability to divide and how they divide.[14][16]

Personal life

Fuchs is married to a fellow academic, David Hansen. She currently sits on the board of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. She was elected president of the American Society for Cell Biology in 2001. In 2009 Fuchs was awarded the United States’ highest honor for scientific contributions, the National Medal of Science, by President Barack Obama.[17]

In 2015 she was awarded the American Society for Cell Biology's highest scientific honor, the E.B Wilson Medal.[18] In 2020 she received the Canada Gairdner International Award.[19]

Fuchs’ lifetime research emphasis has centered on the study of skin and hair.[20]

Support of Women in Science

Throughout her career she has made a point of supporting young female scientists. During the interview with Elmasry in 2010, Fuchs commented on her potential influence as a role model to students and, in particular, to women who might aspire to go into scientific fields: "This past year, I was a visiting scholar for the Phi Beta Kappa Society and went to small liberal arts colleges in the United States, and not only gave public lectures about science, but also research lectures, and then also spoke with women about the importance of bringing their intellectual force, which is formidable, to the scientific arena in the future." [3]

In an interview with Fiona Watt, an editor-in-chief for JCS, Fuchs details some of the challenges she faced as a woman pursuing a career in science. When asked if being a woman was an inherent advantage or disadvantage for a career in science, she replied “I can't say it is or isn't, but the discrimination I have faced personally has served as an inspiration and a challenge to do better, not as an impediment to my career. The one thing I do feel now is that it is important for senior women to remember that the road for women scientists is not always an easy one. There is still substantial room for the scientific community to grow in the realization that, by opening the door to women, it is going to raise the level of scientific excellence. Senior women who are recognized by their peers as being successful have a responsibility to help educate those scientists who haven't quite accepted this important message. And we have a responsibility to maintain the highest scientific and ethical standards and to serve as the best role models we can for the younger generation of outstanding scientists – both men and women – who are rising through the ranks. Leading by good example is still the best way to diffuse the now more subtle and less vocal, but nevertheless lingering, discrimination and dogmatism against women scientists within our scientific community.” [2] Because there were few women in leadership roles doing laboratory research when Fuchs began her career, she often faced subtle discrimination. She related a story from her early days in Chicago when a technician from one of the other labs, seeing her setting up her new lab, asked if she was Dr. Fuchs’ new technician. She replied, “I am Dr. Fuchs!”[4]

Fuchs said of the L’Oreal-UNESCO Award, "It's also a wonderful concept to reward a woman from each of the five major regional areas in which science is being conducted around the world, in a celebration of not only women in science, but also the importance of science in a world community." [3] Fuchs has also continued her concern for social and ethical issues, remarking at 2000 commencement address at the University of Chicago: “I now balance the joy of discovery with the necessity of taking seriously ethical and educational concerns at the nexus of science and society today. Indeed, for the world of science to be a successful one, it must be a science of the world. It must be a science that embodies concern for the world of the next millennium. Your education has taught you to be morally and ethically responsible, and to bring philosophical reflection into your chosen profession, your community, and your life as a whole.” [21]

Graduates of Fuchs' Lab

Awards and Honors

Elected to
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994)
  • Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (1994)
  • National Academy of Sciences (1996)
  • American Academy of Microbiology (1997)
  • German Society of Dermatology (2001)
  • Harvey Society (2004)
  • New York Academy of Sciences (2004)
  • American Philosophical Society (2005)
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2008)
  • Foreign Member, European Molecular Biology Organization (2010)
  • Fellow, Academy of the American Association for Cancer Research (2013)
  • Pontifical Academy of Sciences (2018)
  • Foreign Member, The Royal Society (2019)

Honorary degrees
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai (2003)
  • University of Illinois (2006)
  • Harvard University (2016)[22]

Awards

University of Illinois:

  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Sigma Xi
  • Agnes Sloan Larson Award
  • Reynold Clayton Fuson Award
  • James Scholar
  • Bronze Tablet (top 3% of class)
  • Graduated with highest distinction in the curriculum

MIT:

  • Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fellow

Univ. Chicago:

  • Andrew Mellon Fellow (1981)
  • Searle Scholar (1981-1983)
  • NIH Career Development Award (1982-1987)
  • Presidential Young Investigator (1984-1989)
  • Nation's 100 brightest scientists under 40 (Science Digest, 1984)
  • Nation's Outstanding Scientists, White House (1985)
  • R.R. Bensely Award (Amer. Association of Anatomists, 1988)
  • Montagna Award (Soc. Invest. Dermatology, 1995)
  • Keith Porter Lecture (ASCB, 1996)
  • Senior Women's Career Achievement Award (ASCB, 1997)
  • Convocation Address, (U Chicago, 1999)
  • Richard Lounsbery Award (National Academy of Sciences, 2001)
  • Cartwright Award (Columbia, 2002)

Rockefeller University:

  • Cruikshank Award Lecture (Gordon Research Conferences, 2002)
  • Richard Lounsbery Lecture (Sackler Symposium on Regenerative Medicine, NAS, 2002)
  • Novartis Award in Biomedical Research shared with Phil Sharp and David Botstein (2003)
  • Dickson Prize in Medicine (2004)
  • FASEB Award for Scientific Excellence (2006)
  • Beering Award (2006)
  • Lecturer, College de France (by Invitation of the Assembly of Professors) (2008)
  • Visiting Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa (2009-2010)
  • National Medal of Science (2009)
  • L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science ('10)[23]
  • Madison Medal (Princeton University, 2011)
  • Passano Award (2011)
  • Albany Medical Center Prize (2011)
  • March of Dimes Prize (2012)
  • New York Academy of Medicine Medal for Biomedical Research (2012)
  • American Skin Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2013)
  • Kligman-Frost Leadership Award, Society of Investigative Dermatology (2013)
  • Pasarow Award for Cancer Research (2013)
  • 2015 E.B. Wilson Medal, ASCB (2015)
  • 2017 ISSCR Innovation Award (2017)
  • 2019 Bloch Award (AACR)
  • 2020 Gairdner Award

References
  1. National Science and Technology Foundation. (2008). Elaine Fuchs: national medal of science. Retrieved November 20, 2017, from https://www.nationalmedals.org/laureates/elaine-fuchs
  2. Fiona Watt. "Women in Cell Science: Elaine Fuchs", Journal of Cell Science, v. 117, n. 4877-4879 (2004).
  3. Elmasry, Faiza. (2010). Cell Biologist Elaine Fuchs: Revolutionizing the Study of Skin. VOA. Retrieved November 20, 2017, from https://www.voanews.com/a/cell-biologist-elaine-fuchs-revolutionizing-the-study-of-skin--89387832/163710.html
  4. Short, B. (2009). Elaine Fuchs: A love for science that’s more than skin deep. The Journal of Cell Biology, 187(7), 938–939. http://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.1877pi
  5. Fuchs, Elaine V. (1977). The biosynthesis and assembly of the peptidoglycan sacculus of Bacillus Megatorium.
  6. "Elaine Fuchs". Our Scientists. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  7. Hanukoglu I, Fuchs E (Nov 1982). "The cDNA sequence of a human epidermal keratin: divergence of sequence but conservation of structure among intermediate filament proteins". Cell. 31 (1): 243–252. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(82)90424-X.
  8. Hanukoglu I, Fuchs E (Jul 1983). "The cDNA sequence of a Type II cytoskeletal keratin reveals constant and variable structural domains among keratins". Cell. 33 (3): 915–924. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(83)90034-X
  9. ISI, Highly Cited Researchers Version 1.1. Retrieved November 29, 2006.
  10. Fuchs, Elaine (May 2009). "The Tortoise and the Hair: Slow-Cycling Cells in the Stem Cell Race". Cell. 137 (5): 811–819. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2009.05.002. PMC 2716122. PMID 19490891.
  11. Skin and Its Regenerative Powers: An Alliance between Stem Cells and Their Niche. Gonzales, Kevin Andrew Uy et al. Developmental Cell , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , 387 - 401
  12. Fuchs, E. (June 2012). "Elaine Fuchs". Nature Reviews Genetics. 13 (6): 381. doi:10.1038/nrg3252. ISSN 1471-0056. PMID 22585069. S2CID 30980852.
  13. Uttam, J.; Hutton, E.; Coulombe, P. A.; Anton-Lamprecht, I.; Yu, Q. C.; Gedde-Dahl, T.; Fine, J. D.; Fuchs, E. (August 20, 1996). "The genetic basis of epidermolysis bullosa simplex with mottled pigmentation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 93 (17): 9079–9084. Bibcode:1996PNAS...93.9079U. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.17.9079. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 38598. PMID 8799157.
  14. Fuchs, Elaine (July 1, 2018). "Abstract SY39-01: Stem cells in squamous cell carcinomas: Their biology, heterogeneity, and resistance to therapy". Tumor Biology. pp. SY39–01–SY39-01. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2018-SY39-01.
  15. Fuchs, Elaine (May 8, 2018). "Skin Stem Cells in Silence, Action, and Cancer". Stem Cell Reports. 10 (5): 1432–1438. doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2018.04.008. PMC 5995444. PMID 29742389.
  16. Fuchs E., Tumber T., Guasch G. (2004). Socializing with the neighbors: stem cells and their niche. The Cell. Vol. 116, 769–778
  17. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. (2009). Elaine Fuchs to Receive National Medal of Science. Retrieved November 20, 2017, from http://www.hhmi.org/news/elaine-fuchs-receive-national-medal-science
  18. Fleischman, John. (2015). From Skin Cells to Stem Cells, Pioneer Researcher Elaine Fuchs Wins Cell Biologists’ Highest Honor. ASCB. Retrieved November 20, 2017, from http://www.ascb.org/ascb-post/from-skin-cells-to-stem-cells-pioneer-researcher-elaine-fuchs-wins-cell-biologists-highest-honor/
  19. Gairdner Laureates 2020
  20. (2017). Elaine Fuchs, PhD. Retrieved November 20, 2017, from http://www.hhmi.org/scientists/elaine-fuchs
  21. Elaine Fuchs (January 6, 2000). "Address: Shapes of an Education at the University of Chicago". University of Chicago
  22. "Honorary Degrees".
  23. L'OREAL-UNESCO Awards and Fellowships for Women in Science 2010 to be presented at UNESCO, UNESCO.org, Retrieved November 14, 2015
Preceded by
Richard Hynes		 ASCB Presidents
2001		 Succeeded by
Gary Borisy
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