Investigation of membrane traffic using the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system.

Studies of molecular mechanisms and dynamics of endocytosis, using live cell imaging approaches.

Identification and characterization of clathrin-coated vesicle cargo and adaptors.

Structure-function analysis of clathrin heavy and light chains.

Role of clathrin and its adaptors in autophagy in yeast.

• Atg27 tyrosine sorting motif is important for its trafficking and Atg9 localization
• Lessons from yeast for clathrin-mediated endocytosis
• In vivo dynamics of clathrin and its adaptor-dependent recruitment to the actin-based endocytic machinery in yeast
• Link to PubMed for publications by Sandra Lemmon

Dr. Lemmon is a cell biologist whose research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of membrane traffic in the endocytic/endosomal system.  She was a postdoctoral fellow with Elizabeth Jones at Carnegie Mellon Univ. (1983-1985) and continued as Research Assistant Professor (1985-1988).  From 1988-2003 Dr. Lemmon was a faculty member in the Dept. of Molecular Biology & Microbiology at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU).  In 2003 she was recruited to the Univ. of Miami Miller School of Medicine (UMMSM), where she is currently Professor of Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology. Dr. Lemmon has served on several grant review panels at NIH and NSF and is on the editorial board of Molecular Biology of the Cell.  Her research is currently funded by the NIH/NIGMS.  

Dr. Lemmon is also Director of the MD-PhD Program at UMMSM.  She became involved in MD-PhD training in 1994 at CWRU, serving as Associate Director from 1999-2003.  She continued to work with the MD-PhD Program at UMMSM and was appointed Director in 2006.  She is also involved at the national level as a Steering Committee Member of the AAMC GREAT Group MD-PhD Section and MD-PhD Program Association.  In 2015, Dr. Lemmon was awarded the Best Graduate Program Director Award from the University of Miami for her dedication and commitment to the MD-PhD Program and its students.