About

Katrin Karbstein earned her Diploma from the University of Witten/Herdecke in Germany in 1998. After that she carried out her PhD. research with Dan Herschlag at Stanford University. After postdoctoral training with Jennifer Doudna from 2003-2006, Dr. Karbstein was appointed to the faculty of the University of Michigan in 2006. In 2010 Dr. Karbstein moved to Scripps Florida, where she was promoted to Associate and Full Professor.

In 2024, Dr. Karbstein relocated her lab to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she assumed a new leadership role as co-leader of the basic science program in the cancer center.
Dr. Karbstein’s research addresses how cells maintain the proper number and composition of ribosomes. The lab utilizes a multi-disciplinary set of tools, including yeast genetics, biochemistry, RNA-seq, biochemistry, cryo-EM etc. to address these questions. Research from her lab led to breakthrough discoveries demonstrating that cells mimic aspects of translation as part of quality control mechanisms during assembly. Bypass of these mechanism leads to the release of misassembled ribosomes into the translating pool that have deficiencies in fidelity. Moreover, her lab has provided the first evidence for physiological roles for specialized ribosomes, and demonstrated how these can arise rapidly and reversibly via chaperone-mediated release of ribosomal proteins. In another fundamental discovery, her team has demonstrated that oxidatively damaged ribosomes can be repaired.

Dr. Karbstein’s achievements in science have been recognized by several honors. She was selected as a UF Research Foundation Scholar in 2023, named an HHMI Faculty Scholar in 2016, the University of Michigan Seyhan Ege Professor in 2009 and won an NSF CAREER award in 2009. In 2024 she received the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Society of Research fellows at UF Scripps.

While her children are now grown, Dr. Karbstein has long been proud to combine a career as a scientist with her role as a single parent and is passionate about promoting the careers of young researchers, especially women and those from other underrepresented groups. In the lab we strive to foster an environment that enables excellence in science while providing a supportive and nurturing atmosphere that enables personal growth, while emphasizing high achievement.