Dr. Xing Zhang was trained under Dr. F. William Studier at Brookhaven National Laboratory, who developed the widely used T7 expression system and auto-induction method for high-density protein production. Dr. Zhang investigated the inhibition mechanism of T7 RNA polymerase by T7 lysozyme and its application in fine-tuning the T7 expression system. Dr. Zhang has studied the structure and function of protein arginine and histone lysine methyltransferases. Notably, Dr. Zhang determined the first structures of PRMT3 (2000) and PRMT1 (2003) and collaborated on analyzing PRMT1 interactions with various substrates. Dr. Zhang determined the first structure of the histone lysine methyltransferase DIM-5 (2002) and its complex with histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9) peptide (2003), leading to the discovery of a switch mechanism that determines the degree of lysine methylation (mono-, di-, or tri-methyl groups). Since joining MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2016, Dr. Zhang has focused on the recognition of DNA modifications by transcription factors, including C2H2 zinc finger proteins. Throughout her career, Dr. Zhang has developed numerous assays for protein and DNA methylation and demethylation reactions using radioactive, fluorescence-coupled, and mass spectrometry techniques, as well as fluorescent polarization and ITC assays for measuring protein–DNA interactions.

Dr. Robert M. (Bob) Blumenthal is a Distinguished University Professor at The University of Toledo, in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and the Program in Bioinformatics. He started in science under the influence of his parents, Drs. Harold J. and Doris C. Blumenthal (a microbiologist focused on bacterial physiology and a biochemist focused on heme, respectively). After earning a B.A. in microbiology at Indiana University, working in the laboratory of Dr. Robert F. Ramaley, he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, in the microbiology laboratory of Dr. Frederick C. Neidhardt. This was followed by two postdoctoral fellowships, one at the University of British Columbia (biochemistry, Dr. Patrick P. Dennis) and the other at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (nucleic acid chemistry, Nobel laureate Dr. Richard J. Roberts). He has been at UT since 1981, and in addition to his interest in DNA methylation he also studies restriction-modification systems, bacterial global regulators such as Lrp, and the enzyme methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT). Dr. Blumenthal is a long-time collaborator of Dr. Xiaodong Cheng, whom he first met at Cold Spring Harbor. He also has to his credit one recorded rock song, released in 1968 as a 45 rpm record and currently available online.

Dr. Xiaodong Cheng received his PhD in neutron protein crystallography from the State University of New York in 1989 (in the laboratory of Benno P. Schoenborn) after completing his undergraduate education in Physics from Fudan University. Over the past 30+ years, his research has been focusing on understanding the generation, recognition, and erasure of epigenetic methyl marks on DNA and histones. His journey in the epigenetics field began with his first publication on DNA methylation in 1992 (Biochemistry). It was at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory when he began a collaboration with Dr. Richard J. Roberts that led to the discovery of DNA base flipping by a DNA methyltransferase. In 1997, Dr. Cheng joined Emory University School of Medicine as a Professor of Biochemistry and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, where his research delved into the structural and functional connections between DNA and histone methylation. In 2016, Dr. Cheng joined the MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) as a CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research. At MDACC, he has furthered his basic research on epigenetic modifications and expanded his focus to translational research.