American Health Council Names Arthur J. Lustig, PhD to Education Board

    NEW YORK, NY, August 11, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Dr. Arthur J. Lustig, Professor at Tulane University, has been selected to join the Education Board at the American Health Council. Dr. Lustig will be sharing his knowledge and expertise in the field of cancer research, molecular genetics, telomere dynamics, biochemistry, and molecular biology.

Dr. Arthur Lustig became involved in research after beginning his career as an undergraduate student at The University of Chicago. During the course of his freshman year, he became interested in the long term basic biological research within biochemistry and molecular biology.

In 1975, Arthur Lustig received his Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Chicago. In 1981, he pursued and received his Ph.D. in molecular genetics from The University of Chicago. He then completed a second postdoctoral fellowship in RNA splicing from The California Institute of Technology in 1987.

As a Professor at Tulane University in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, his day-to-day responsibilities include cancer research with an interest is solving basic problems in chromosome stability, and additionally teaching graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (I.e. the responsibilities of a principal investigator). Dr. Arthur Lustig has spent 20 years within his current role and 29 years within the healthcare industry.

Dr. Lustig's research strengths include: cancer research, nucleic acids biochemistry, the structure and function of the termini of linear chromosomes called telomeres) with interests in epigenetic control of gene expression, telomerase replication, chromosome dynamics, and protein biochemistry. Dr. Lustig also provides graduate training that draws on the tools of genetics, cell biology, chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics, computer science, and a number of other disciplines.

Dr. Arthur Lustig is actively involved in The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, Genetic Society of America, American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Cell Biology, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The New York Academy of Science, The American Association for Cancer Research, and The Clinton Foundation.

Arthur Lustig has been appointed as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Reviewer of Distinction by Elsevier Publications, and the Award of Editorial Achievement by PLOS One. He has also published 50 peer-reviewed articles with 2800 citations in professional literature. Dr. Lustig attributes his success to his ability to pay attention to the unexpected and thinking "out of the box". Despite any problems that he may face, he examines multiple perspectives in order to find a solution.

Among Dr. Arthur Lustig's many accomplishments, he is most interested in his contributions to research regarding major studies in investigating genetic traits that govern telomere size throughout his extensive research career using yeast as a model system. Furthermore, his studies have also investigated the instability of telomeres and rapid evolution of telomere binding proteins. He is also proud to have discovered novel epigenetic traits governing telomere size and heritability, the development of hypotheses for the origin of the rapid evolution of telomere binding proteins. In the future, Arthur Lustig aspires to both continue his ongoing research and contribute to a biomedical not-for-profit organization.

During his free time, Dr. Arthur Lustig is interested in scientific and social action education involving the promotion of human rights, health, and sound environmental policies.

# # #