JoAnne Stubbe's research has helped scientists understand the ways in which enzymes catalyze, or cause, chemical reactions. Her major research efforts have focused on the mechanism of nucleotide reductases, the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the molecule of heredity. Her work has led to the design and synthesis of nucleotide analogs--structural derivatives of nucleotides--that have potential antitumor, antivirus, and antiparasite activity. In 1986 the American Chemical Society honored Stubbe with the Pfizer Award which is given annually to scientists under forty for outstanding achievement in enzyme chemistry.

Stubbe was born June 11, 1946. She earned a B.S. in chemistry with high honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 and her Ph.D. in chemistry at University of California at Berkeley under the direction of George Kenyon in 1971. Stubbe's first two publications in scientific journals outlined the mechanism of reactions involving the enzymes enolase, which metabolizes carbohydrates...