Molecular Biology & Genetics
School of Medicine
725 N. Wolfe Street/Baltimore, MD 21205-2185
(410) 955-8445/ FAX (410) 955-9124

Daniel Nathans
University Professor
                                                                                                                                            April 28, 1995
Dr. Lawrence P. Wennogle
CIBA Pharmaceuticals Division
556 Morris Avenue
Summit, NJ 07901

Dear Dr. Wennogle:

 I am writing to support the application of Anton Yuryev for a Research Scientist position.  Anton will receive his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Genetics from our department in the spring of this year (1995).  I am a member of his thesis committee.

 You will have heard directly from Anton Yuryev and Dr. Jeffry Corden, his thesis advisor, about his research accomplishments.  I will add my assessment of his qualifications for a research position.  Anton is quite bright, he reads widely in his area of interest, he has a good scientific insight and judgment, he is self-reliant, and he is a talented experimentalist.  He is now working as independently as advanced post-doctoral fellow.  Anton has accomplished an important piece of work in identifying proteins that interact with the C-terminal repeat of the large subunit of RNA polymerase II.  These proteins have motifs related to those of RNA processing factors, suggesting a coupling of transcription and processing through the C-terminal domain of the RNA polymerase II subunit.  His findings will form basis of further work in Dr. Corden’s laboratory and elsewhere.

 For the reasons stated above, I think Anton is ready for a research position.  He is somewhat older than most of our Ph.D. students and has a family to support.  Therefore, he wants to get on with his career and is attracted to industrial research. I think he will make important contribution to any research area he works in.