Rate My Professor Crystal Young-Erdos

Her primary research interests focus on RNA-protein interactions, specifically the mechanisms by which DEAD-box proteins—a conserved family of RNA-dependent ATPases—achieve substrate specificity during ribosome assembly. In her lab at Eckerd College, she and her undergraduate researchers investigate N- and C-terminal extensions and binding cofactors of yeast DEAD-box proteins orthologous to human proteins implicated in cancer, using biochemistry, molecular biology, and yeast genetics. An ongoing project examines physiological stress responses in dogs and their human companions living on campus through salivary cortisol measurements. Key publications include 'The DEAD-box Protein Rok1 Orchestrates 40S and 60S Ribosome Assembly by Promoting the Release of Rrp5 from Pre-40S Ribosomes to Allow for 60S Maturation' (PLoS Biol., 2016), 'Cofactor-dependent Specificity of a DEAD-box Protein' (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2013), 'A Translation-like Cycle is a Quality Control Checkpoint for Maturing 40S Ribosome Subunits' (Cell, 2012), 'Analysis of Co-factor Effects on RNA Helicases' (Methods Enzymol., 2012), and 'The Roles of S1 RNA-binding Domains in Rrp5’s Interactions with pre-rRNA' (RNA, 2011). She has presented research at meetings of the RNA Society, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Southeastern Regional Yeast Meeting.