Larner College of Medicine

Steven Roberts

Professor

Program Co-Leader, Cancer Cell Program

PRONOUNS he/him

srober23@med.uvm.edu
(802) 656-3502
person smiling
srober23@med.uvm.edu
+18026563502

Firestone Medical Research Building (FMRB) 352
89 Beaumont Ave
Burlington, VT 05405
United States
Pronouns he/him
Alma mater(s)
  • Ph.D., Biochemistry and Biophysics, Bowling Green State University
  • B.S., Chemistry, Biology, Bowling Green State University
  • Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill NC
Affiliated Department(s)

Areas of expertise

genome dynamics, mutagenesis, APOBEC cytidine deaminases, UV damage, genomics, breast cancer, melanoma.

BIO

Dr. Roberts obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2008. There, he studied the activities of the DNA end recognition protein, Ku, during non-homologous end joining of chromosome breaks under the direction of Dr. Dale Ramsden. Subsequently, he conducted post-doctoral training with Dr. Dmitry Gordenin at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina until 2014. During this time, Dr. Roberts studied the genome-wide distribution of damage-induced mutations in yeast and identified mechanisms resulting in simultaneous, closely spaced mutation clusters. This analysis also allowed the identification of similar mutation bursts in human cancers, called kataegis, which highlighted a major causative role of APOBEC cytidine deaminases in causing mutations as tumors develop. In 2014, Dr. Roberts started his independent research program at Washington State University in the School of Molecular Biosciences. His group determined a causative role for APOBEC3A in cancer mutagenesis, determined these enzymes mutated cancer genomes by deaminating replication intermediates, and identified the importance of atypical UV photoproducts in causing driver mutations in melanoma. He was recruited to the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics in 2023 to continue studies on how APOBECs, UV exposure, transcription, and DNA oxidation enable tumor evolution.

Courses

  • MMG 6330 Advanced Genetics and Genomics

Publications

Google Scholar Publications

Bio

Dr. Roberts obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2008. There, he studied the activities of the DNA end recognition protein, Ku, during non-homologous end joining of chromosome breaks under the direction of Dr. Dale Ramsden. Subsequently, he conducted post-doctoral training with Dr. Dmitry Gordenin at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina until 2014. During this time, Dr. Roberts studied the genome-wide distribution of damage-induced mutations in yeast and identified mechanisms resulting in simultaneous, closely spaced mutation clusters. This analysis also allowed the identification of similar mutation bursts in human cancers, called kataegis, which highlighted a major causative role of APOBEC cytidine deaminases in causing mutations as tumors develop. In 2014, Dr. Roberts started his independent research program at Washington State University in the School of Molecular Biosciences. His group determined a causative role for APOBEC3A in cancer mutagenesis, determined these enzymes mutated cancer genomes by deaminating replication intermediates, and identified the importance of atypical UV photoproducts in causing driver mutations in melanoma. He was recruited to the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics in 2023 to continue studies on how APOBECs, UV exposure, transcription, and DNA oxidation enable tumor evolution.

Courses

  • MMG 6330 Advanced Genetics and Genomics

Publications

Google Scholar Publications

Select Publications

  1. Roberts SA, Sterling J, Thompson C, Harris S, Mav D, Shah R, Klimczak LJ, Kryukov GV, Malc E, Mieczkowski PA, Resnick MA, and Gordenin DA (2012) Clustered Mutations in Yeast and in Human Cancers Can Arise from Damaged Long Single-Strand DNA Regions. Molecular Cell. 46(4):424-35. PMC3361558 
  2. Mao P, Brown AJ, Esaki S, Lockwood S, Poon GMK, Smerdon MJ, Roberts SA*, and Wyrick JJ (2018) ETS transcription factors induce a unique UV damage signature that drives recurrent mutagenesis in melanoma. Nature Communications. 9, Article number: 2626. (* co-corresponding author)
  3. Cortez LM, Brown AL, Dennis MA, Collins CD, Brown AJ, Mitchell D, Mertz TM*, and Roberts SA*. APOBEC3A is a prominent cytidine deaminase in breast cancer. (2019) PLoS Genet. published 16 Dec 2019. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008545. PMID:31841499. (* co-corresponding author) 
  4. Vandenberg BN, Laughery MF, Cordero C, Plummer D, Mitchell D, Kreyenhagen J, Albaqshi F, Brown AJ, Mieczkowski PA, Wyrick JJ*, and Roberts SA*. Contributions of replicative and translesion DNA polymerases to mutagenic bypass of canonical and atypical UV photoproducts (2023) Nat Commun. 2023 May 4;14(1):2576. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38255-5. PMID: 37142570 PMCID: PMC10160025 (* Co-corresponding author) 
  5. Cordero C, Mehta KPM, Weaver TM, Ling JA, Freudenthal BD, Cortez D, and Roberts SA. Contributing factors to the oxidation-induced mutational landscape in human cells (2024) Nat Commun. 2024 Dec 23;15(1):10722. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-55497-z. PMID: 39715760

Lab Team Members

Tony Mertz

Graduate Research Assistants
John Ball
Cameron Cordero
Erin Gaston
Alyssa Hurley
Vanessa Lopez
Shannon Prior
Atri Raval