Dr. Steven S. Smith

“The laboratory of Steven S. Smith, Ph.D. brings chemists and molecular biologists together for work on epigenetics as we help to build a science of Bionanotechnology. We approach epigenetics, like other problems in biology at the molecular level as a form of reverse engineering. Charles Darwin’s Evolution by Natural Selection, Adam Smith’s Unseen Hand, and Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan provide the fundamental principle of biology: engineering by an unseen engineer.
 
In studies of epigenetics our efforts use reverse engineering to understand how patterns of methylation are set up on DNA and propagated in living things. In studies of bionanotechnology we study the science of supramolecular assembly in order to forward engineer molecular devices useful in biological research.”

Dr. Steven S. Smith, B.S., Ph.D. is a Professor of Molecular Science at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope in Duarte, California. He is a member of the City of Hope’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and an Associate member of the Department of Urology and Urological Oncology at the City of Hope National Medical Center where he is Associate Director of the Prostate Cancer Research Program.
 
Steve has made numerous contributions to the study of DNA methylation in human cells. His research led him to propose that the phenomenon of DNA methylation and its epigenetic effects are tightly linked to the requirements imposed on biology by DNA conformation space. Current research in that area continues to shed light on the interplay between DNA conformation, DNA methylation and cancer.
 
In the early 1990’s his research in computer modeling of DNA structure and its effects on the reaction catalyzed by the human DNA methyltransferase lead him to discover what subsequently came to be known as the flip-out mechanism for these enzymes. The methods used in proving this mechanism suggested that a nanotechnology for covalently linking proteins to DNA scaffolds could be developed. This nanotechnology is currently under development in his laboratory at City of Hope where nanoscale devices are being developed to target tumor cells for diagnosis and eventual treatment of Urological Cancers. His work has resulted in nearly 80 peer reviewed publications, numerous invited presentations and 5 US patents.
 
Steve earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology at the University of Idaho, where he was honored with the Phi Sigma Award, as the Outstanding Undergraduate in Biology. He earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Molecular Biology Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he studied with Daniel E. Atkinson in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. After postdoctoral work at the University of Bern, Bern Switzerland, and the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, he joined the staff of the City of Hope in 1982.
 
His work has been recognized by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) as a Wellcome Visiting Professor in Basic Medical Sciences at Oklahoma State University and by Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Oklahoma for Distinguished Contributions in the field of DNA Methylation. He has appeared on the cover of Cope Magazine, and his hypothesis on DNA conformation space was highlighted as a cover illustration in Molecular Carcinogenesis. He is an Executive Editor of Analytical Biochemistry, Academic Press and has been appointed to the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science Review Committee and to the Editorial Board, Cancer Genomics and Proteomics (IIAR). He is a past finalist for the Feynman Award, and was honored as a Computerworld/Honors Laureate for Visionary Use of Information Technology in Medicine.
 
Steve lives with his wife and two Border Collies in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles overlooking Hollywood and the western horizon. He is an avid backpacker having picked up a love of the outdoors and trout streams during his time in Idaho and the US Forest Service. Also an avid weightlifter, he lifts in the Masters Weightlifting program of the USAW.