The University Record, March 15, 1999 News and Information
Services |1999 Russel Lecturer Jack Dixon (left) with President
Lee C. Bollinger prior to Dixon's address on phosphatases. Photo
by Bob Kalmbach| Until the late 1980s, little was known about
how these phosphatases work together with their better-
understood counterparts-the enzymes called kinases.
Collectively, the phosphatases and kinases act as a set of
molecular switches to turn cells on and off. Much of our current
understanding of phosphatase function comes from work by Dixon
and his research associates in the Department of Biological
Chemistry. In recognition of the quality and significance of
this work, Dixon was chosen to present the U-M's 1999 Henry
Russel Lecture last week, which he titled "Playing Tag with
Death: A Biochemist's View of the Plague, Cancer and Signal
Transduction." The Henry Russel Lectureship is the highest honor
a senior faculty member can receive for distinction in research.
A U-M faculty member since 1991, Dixon is the Min