and TFIIIC for Pol III) to "read" specific target genes. 1980: Roeder identifies the first mammalian gene-specific activator, called TFIIIA. TFIIIA and similar proteins bind to specific DNA sequences and enhance the reading of corresponding target genes. Repressors perform the opposite task by inhibiting a gene's activity. 1990s: A decade of research culminates with the discovery of coactivators, large protein complexes that provide a bridge between the activators and repressors and the RNA polymerases and other components of the general transcription machinery. 1992: Roeder's laboratory demonstrates that coactivators can be ubiquitous, monitoring many genes in a variety of cells, or specific to one particular cell type. Roeder and colleagues introduce the concept of cell specificity after they demonstrate that the coactivator OCA-B, the first cell-specific coactivator, discovered by Roeder in 1992, is unique to immune system B cells. 1996: Roeder's laboratory discovers the major conduit for communication between gene-specific activators and the general transcription machinery in animal cells: a giant coactivator (TRAP/SMCC) that consists of about 25 different protein chains and is referred to as the human mediator after its counterpart in yeast. 2002: Roeder and colleagues show that a single component of the mediator is essential for the formation of fat cells — a finding that may one day contribute to new treatments for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other conditions in which the fat-making process breaks down. Highly cited papers Times Cited: 12,743 Times Cited: 3,236 Times Cited: 1,511 Times Cited: 1,377 Times Cited: 1,177 Honors and awards 1977: American Chemical Society, Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry 1986: NAS Award in Molecular Biology 1988: Member, National Academy of Sciences 1988: Harvey Society Lecturer 1990: Honorary Doctor of Science from Wabash College 1992: Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science 1995: Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Science (shared with Robert Tjian) 1995: Passano Award (shared with Robert Tjian) 1995: Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1999: Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University (shared with Pierre Chambon and Robert Tjian) 1999: General Motors Cancer Research Foundation's Alfred P. Sloan Prize (shared with Robert Tjian) 2000: Gairdner Foundation International Award (shared with Roger D. Kornberg) 2001: Dickson Prize in Medicine from University of Pittsburgh 2002: Merck Award – American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (shared with Roger D. Kornberg) 2003: Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research 2003: Foreign Associate Member,