Biography
Dr. Reuben Harris is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and chair of the Biochemistry and Structural Biology department at University of Texas Health San Antonio. Dr. Harris is an international leader in the fields of virology and cancer biology with over 250 publications. He is especially well-known for discovering the APOBEC family of DNA cytosine deaminase, the physiological functions of several of these enzymes in innate antiviral immunity, and the pathological roles of at least two of these enzymes in cancer mutagenesis and tumor evolution. These breakthroughs have created new opportunities for anti-viral and anti-cancer drug development and have helped enable novel genome engineering technologies. Dr. Harris is also dedicated to training and mentoring the next-generation of scientists.