Rate My Professor Sarah Spiegel

Sarah Spiegel, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, a position she has held since 2002. Renowned in Biology for her pioneering work on sphingolipid signaling, she received her B.Sc. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1974 and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1983. She completed postdoctoral training in the Membrane Biochemistry Section at the National Institutes of Health from 1984 to 1986. Prior to joining VCU, Spiegel advanced through the faculty ranks at Georgetown University School of Medicine, serving as Assistant Professor from 1987 to 1992, Associate Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 1992 to 1996, and Full Professor from 1996 to 2001. At VCU, she also directed the Cancer Cell Biology Program at Massey Cancer Center from 2005 to 2020 and has mentored 73 pre- and postdoctoral students and fellows, as well as dozens of faculty members, many of whom have achieved distinguished careers in academia and industry.

Spiegel's research, primarily funded by the NIH with nearly 60 grants, centers on bioactive sphingolipids, particularly sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and sphingosine kinases, elucidating their roles in cell growth, apoptosis, immunity, inflammation, cancer progression, metastasis, and chemotherapy resistance. She established the sphingolipid rheostat concept, demonstrated S1P's inside-out signaling through G protein-coupled receptors, and developed the first specific SphK1 inhibitor. Her prolific output includes over 260 peer-reviewed publications, 227 book chapters and reviews, and 7 U.S. patents, garnering more than 68,000 citations and an h-index of 143. Notable publications encompass "Sphingosine-1-phosphate: an enigmatic signalling lipid" (Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 2003) and "Suppression of ceramide-mediated programmed cell death by sphingosine-1-phosphate" (Nature, 1996). Her impact is recognized through awards such as the ASBMB Avanti Award in Lipids (2009), ASBMB Fellow (2021), AAAS Fellow (2009), VCU Distinguished Mentor Award (2018), Virginia Outstanding Scientist of the Year (2008), and the Mann T. and Sara D. Lowry Endowed Chair in Cancer Research (2011).