Susan S. Taylor, PhD, studies the structure, function, dynamics and localization inside the cell of proteins known as kinases. She uses interdisciplinary approaches coupling rigorous biochemistry, biophysics and mathematics with cell biology and structural biology. Specifically, she studies how activations of kinases can be turned off by small changes in cancer genes. Dr. Taylor received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and her PhD from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She was a postdoctoral fellow working under the supervision of Prof. Brian Hartley at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology. She then joined the newly founded University of San Diego (UCSD) as a postdoctoral fellow working in the laboratory of Nathan Kaplan, PhD. She has since become distinguished professor of pharmacology and chemistry & biochemistry at UCSD.