Guillaume Chanfreau

Guillaume Chanfreau is a Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, contributing to the university's Biology programs through his research on gene expression regulation. He received his B.S. from the University of Lyon and École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Ph.D. from the University of Paris VI, and Habilitation from the University of Paris XI. After completing a Human Frontier Science Program postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, he joined the UCLA faculty. Chanfreau has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the 2017 American Cancer Society Giants of Science Determination Award for contributions to cancer research, the 2019 National Institutes of Health Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) from NIGMS, and the 2018 Bernard and Francine Dorval Prize from the Molecular Biology Institute.

Chanfreau's research employs genome-wide and systems biology approaches to investigate the integration of transcription and post-transcriptional processes that control eukaryotic gene expression, with a focus on Biology-related mechanisms of RNA metabolism. Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a primary model organism, his laboratory studies RNA degradation pathways mediated by ribonucleases such as the RNA exosome, quality control of aberrant transcripts, splicing efficiency and fidelity, transcription termination, coordination between 3'-end processing and splicing, and the role of RNA secondary structures in gene regulation. His work has elucidated novel pathways for RNA surveillance, stress-induced degradation, and cellular homeostasis, with implications for diseases involving RNA dysregulation. Key publications include "Sphingolipid signaling mediates iron toxicity" (Cell Metabolism, 2012), "Widespread impact of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay on the yeast intronome" (Molecular Cell, 2008), "Functions of the exosome in rRNA, snoRNA and snRNA synthesis" (EMBO Journal, 1999), "Transcription termination promotes splicing efficiency and fidelity in a compact genome" (PNAS, 2025), and "Trafficking of mitochondrial double-stranded RNA from mitochondria to the cytosol" (Life Science Alliance, 2024). With over 7,000 citations, his contributions have significantly influenced the understanding of RNA processing and its links to cellular physiology and pathology.

Professional Email: guillom@chem.ucla.edu