Joan A. Steitz

Joan Elaine Argetsinger Steitz (born January 26, 1941) is an American biochemist and molecular biologist, Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She also serves as the Director of the Molecular Genetics Program at the Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine. She is known for her discoveries involving RNA, including insights into how ribosomes interact with messenger RNA by complementary base pairing and that introns are spliced by small nuclear ribonucleic proteins (snRNPs), which occur in eukaryotes. In September 2018, Steitz won the Lasker-Koshland Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science. The Lasker award is often referred to as the 'American Nobel' because 87 of the former recipients have gone on to win Nobel prizes.