Professor, biochemist

Rowena Green Matthews, born in 1938, is the G. Robert Greenberg Distinguished University professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research focuses on the role of organic cofactors as partners of enzymes catalyzing difficult biochemical reactions, especially folic acid and cobalamin (vitamin B12). Among other honors, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2002 and the Ins*ute of Medicine in 2004.

Contents

• 1 Early life and education
• 2 Academic career
• 3 Awards
• 4 Research
• 5 Selected publications
• 6 Personal life
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Early life and education

Matthews was born in Cambridge, England while her father, biochemist David E. Green, was on sabbatical there.: xxi  Matthews earned her B.A. in biology summa * laude from Radcliffe College in 1960. As an undergraduate, and for three years thereafter, she worked with George Wald studying a new intermediate in the bleaching of the visual pigment rhodopsin that temporally coincided with initiation of visual excitation. She then went to graduate school in biophysics at the University of Michigan, where she did her dissertation research in the laboratory of Vincent M*ey. She received her Ph.D. in 1969.

Academic career

After finishing her Ph.D., Matthews remained at the University of Michigan as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Charles Williams in the department of Biological Chemistry and *istant Research Scientist in the Biophysics Research Division in 1978. She was promoted to *ociate Professor in 1981 became a full professor in 1986, and became the G. Robert Greenberg Distinguished University Professor in 1995. In 2002, she *umed the position of Senior Research Professor and Charter Faculty Member of the Life Sciences Ins*ute. She retired in 2007, *uming professor emeritus status.

Awards

She received numerous recognitions and honors during her career, the Repligen award given by the ACS (2001), election to the National Academy of Sciences (2002), the American Academy of Microbiology (2002), the Ins*ute of Medicine (2004), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2005), and the American Philosophical Society (2009). She received the William C. Rose Award given by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2000 and the Repligen Corporation Award in Chemistry of Biological Processes given by the American Chemical Society in 2001.

She was the Frederick Gowland Hopkins Lecturer at 12th International Conference of Pteridines and Folates in 2001, an honor she particularly appreciated because her father had worked with Hopkins. She serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the Howard Hughes Medical Ins*ute, and has served on the Council of the National Academy of Sciences.

The University of Michigan hosts a professorship honoring Matthews; since 2009 James Bardwell has held the Rowena G. Matthews Collegiate Professorship.

Research

Dr. Matthew's research focused on one-carbon metabolism, with particular emphasis on the enzymes that catalyze the de novo generation of methyl groups: methionine synthase, a B-12 dependent enzyme in humans, and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. Her collaboration with geneticist Rima Rozen at McGill University led to the cloning of human methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase and the characterization of the C677T polymorphism *ociated with hyper*cysteinemia in humans. The polymorphism can lead to a high amount of *cysteine in the bloodstream. High concentrations of *cysteine in the plasma can increase the risk for cardiovascular diseases and the use of folic acid have been shown to decrease the amounts in humans. In collaboration with Prof. Martha Ludwig they elucidated the first X-ray structure of vitamin B12 bound to a protein, cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase.

Selected publications

• A love affair with vitamins (2009)
• Cobalamin- and corrinoid-dependent enzymes
• Cobalamin-dependent and cobamide-dependent methyltransferases (2008)

Personal life

Matthews is the eldest daughter of biochemist David E. Green and the aunt of United States Senator Tammy Baldwin.

References

External links

• National Academy of Sciences InterViews podcast with Rowena Matthews