Jerry Workman, Ph.D., an Investigator at the Stowers Institute, is known for his pioneering work uncovering the role of histones in the regulation of gene expression.

Workman earned a B.S. in biology from Northern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Michigan. During his Ph.D., he pursued his interest in using electron microscopy to visualize chromatin—the entire DNA/protein package.

At Rockefeller University, Workman pursued his postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Robert Roeder, Ph.D., a pillar in the field of gene regulation and one of the first scientists to discover transcription factors, proteins that turn on gene expression. In Roeder’s lab, Workman illustrated that transcription factors and nucleosomes compete for DNA sequences to activate or repress genes. In 1992, Workman established his own lab at Pennsylvania State University and in 1998, he became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, a position he forfeited to join the Stowers Institute in 2003. At the Stowers Institute, he continues his work in gene regulation in yeast, fruit flies, and mammalian cells. Over the years, Workman maintained a close research collaboration with his wife, the late Susan Abmayr, Ph.D., who brought fruit fly genetics to his lab.

In addition to his research, Workman heads the postdoctoral training program at the Stowers Institute. As a dedicated mentor, he has trained several generations of postdoctoral researchers, many of whom have gone on and established successful research careers of their own.