Rate My Professor David Schneider

David Schneider, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he also serves as Interim Dean of the Graduate School, Senior Associate Dean of Graduate and International Education, and former Director of the Graduate Biomedical Sciences PhD Program. He joined the UAB faculty in 2007 following postdoctoral training in Biomolecular Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. Schneider earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003 and a B.S. in Microbiology and Genetics from the University of Georgia in 1998. His research centers on ribosome biosynthesis and the regulation of gene expression, with a particular emphasis on eukaryotic RNA polymerase I (Pol I) transcription, the rate-limiting step in rRNA synthesis. The Schneider Lab investigates the enzymatic properties of Pol I, trans-acting protein factors influencing its activity, the impact of DNA sequence on transcription elongation and pausing, and the connection between Pol I transcription and pre-rRNA processing. These studies aim to define mechanisms for inhibiting ribosome synthesis as potential anti-cancer therapeutics, including small-molecule inhibitors like BMH-21 that target Pol I activity. Schneider's lab employs biophysical chemistry and genomics tools to analyze transcription elongation and termination by RNA polymerases I, II, and III, as well as kinetic mechanisms of nucleotide incorporation in bacterial, archaeal, mycobacterial, and eukaryotic systems.

Schneider has authored influential publications, including 'DksA: a critical component of the transcription initiation machinery that potentiates the regulation of rRNA promoters by ppGpp and the initiating NTP' (Cell, 2004), 'Control of rRNA expression by small molecules is dynamic and nonredundant' (Molecular Cell, 2003), and 'Transcription elongation by RNA polymerase I is linked to efficient rRNA processing and ribosome assembly' (Molecular Cell, 2007). His work has garnered over 3,600 citations and contributes to understanding nucleolar stress and ribosome biogenesis in cancer. Schneider received the UAB Graduate Faculty Mentoring Award and leads the UAB PREP Scholars Program. He teaches courses in biochemistry and molecular genetics, mentors numerous graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, and junior faculty, and has shared his career journey in public seminars such as the 'My Story' series.