Joe Lutkenhaus
- University Distinguished Professor
Contact Info
Biography —
Dr. Lutkenhaus joined KU in 1981 and currently serves as Chair of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology. He works on the process of cytokinesis in bacteria. The work in his lab with the bacterium E. coli led to the discovery of a cytoskeletel element, the Z ring, that directs septation in almost all prokaryotic organisms. And his present work is aimed at elucidating the molecular machinery responsible for cell division and how it is regulated, especially the temporal and spatial regulatory mechanisms necessary to ensure that the septum is placed at midcell.
Dr. Lutkenhaus was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in 2002 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2014. He received the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University for outstanding basic research in biology in 2012, and is a recipient of an NIH Merit Award.
Learn more about Joe Lutkenhaus on the KU Medical Center website.