Drennan, Catherine L.

Professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Statement of interest

In 25 years of attending ASBMB meetings, I have been overjoyed to watch women’s networking events grow from two-table, snacks-provided events to ballroom-sized dinner events. I have been thrilled to watch the undergraduate poster competition, which I started as a postdoc in 1999 with a handful of clipboards and six judges, grow into a megaevent that showcases undergraduate research and undergraduate researchers from all types of colleges and universities. My goal as a council member would be to ensure that the ASBMB continues to promote undergraduate research, continues to lead on diversity, equity and inclusion, and continues the showcase the power and value of the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology.

Education and training

A.B., Vassar College
Ph.D., University of Michigan
Postdoc, California Institute of Technology

Awards and honors

The Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award from The Protein Society (2020)
Interclass Member, The American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2020)
AAAS Fellow, Section on Medical Sciences (2020)
ASBMB Fellow, Inaugural class (2021)
ASBMB William C. Rose Award (2023)
National Academy of Sciences (2023)

Experience

Member, ASBMB Education and Professional Development Committee (1996–2002)
Organizer, How to Start and Maintain a Strong Undergraduate Biochemistry Program, ASBMB education satellite meeting in San Francisco (1997)
Founding organizer, ASBMB-sponsored undergraduate poster competition (1997) and second through fifth annual competitions (1998–2001)
Member, ASBMB strategic planning group (1996, 2000)
Member, U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2003–2006)
Member, ASBMB Publications Committee (2003–2006)
Organizer, ASBMB meeting theme “Catalytic Mechanisms” (2013) and “Enzymes” (2021)