Proteins are the workhorse molecules of the body, participating in nearly every structure and activity of life. Animals have developed a variety of ways to produce proteins with unique functions. One way is through a process called RNA editing, in which the “letters” in RNA are changed in specific cells and at certain points in development. These “edits” in the RNA change the code and function of the resulting protein. RNA editing is essential for proper development and brain function, and altered editing levels have been found in several human disorders, including Prader-Willi syndrome, epilepsy, stroke, autism, and many types of cancer.

Heather Hundley, Ph.D., says her long-term goal is to understand how the activity of the RNA editing factors can be modulated at specific places in the RNA. This knowledge is a critical first step in developing therapeutics that can control editing levels and improve treatment of cancers and neurological diseases. Her current research is aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms that a recently identified protein, ADR-1, uses to increases editing levels at specific sites in the microscopic worm, C. elegans, and at identifying human factors that function similarly to ADR-1.

Hundley is an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Medical Sciences Program at Indiana University. She received her Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Brenda Bass, Ph.D., at the University of Utah.