Fred M. Winston

John Emory Andrus Professor of Genetics, Harvard University. Contributions to understanding the regulation of transcription, including the function of nucleosomes in transcriptional regulation, factors involved in transcriptional initiation, the process of transcriptional elongation, and regulatory functions of noncoding RNAs. In addition, discovered that transcription elongation factors repress transcription initiation from cryptic sites. Also discovered that histones control transcription in vivo; co-discoverer of the gene encoding TATA-binding protein (TBP); and provided genetic evidence that TBP is required for normal transcription. Offered new paradigms for understanding gene regulation and directed the arc of research in chromatin/transcription fields. President, Genetics Society of America (2009).