From 1 January 2016, President, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California. Professor Emerita (Morris Herzstein Professor in Biology and Physiology), Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco. Leader in the area of telomere and telomerase research. Discovered the molecular nature of telomeres - the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes that serve as protective caps essential for preserving the genetic information - and the ribonucleoprotein enzyme, telomerase. Co-Recipient, 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.