Researcher

Ron Vale

Profile

Ron Vale is a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator who discovered and characterized kinesin — one of the three major families of cytoskeletal motor proteins. His 1985 discovery of kinesin while working in the Sheetz and Reese laboratories fundamentally changed cell biology by revealing how cells transport organelles, vesicles, and chromosomes along microtubule tracks. Subsequent decades of work from the Vale laboratory have elucidated the mechanochemical mechanisms of kinesin, dynein, and myosin motors at atomic and single-molecule resolution using techniques ranging from cryogenic electron microscopy to optical tweezers and single-molecule fluorescence imaging. Vale pioneered the use of TIRF (total internal reflection fluorescence) microscopy for single-molecule imaging of motor proteins, a technique now ubiquitous in cell biology labs worldwide. His lab also developed iBiology, an open-access platform for science education. As a leader in advanced microscopy and biophysical instrumentation, Vale's lab is a significant influencer for the purchase of custom microscopy platforms, optical tweezer setups, and single-molecule detection equipment. He has been recognized with the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, election to the National Academy of Sciences, and the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.

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