Scott Keeney

Scott Keeney, of New York City, earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Virginia Tech in 1987. He pursued further education, obtaining a doctorate degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1993, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in biochemistry at Harvard University.

Recognized as a distinguished geneticist and molecular biologist, Keeney is renowned for his groundbreaking work on homologous recombination during meiosis. His notable discovery of Spo11 as the protein responsible for making the DNA double-strand breaks that are essential for recombination initiation has significantly contributed to understanding genome integrity during sexual reproduction.

Since 1997, Keeney has served as a faculty member in the Molecular Biology Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, alongside his role as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 2008. He leads a dynamic research lab dedicated to unraveling the intricacies of chromosomal recombination during the meiotic cell division. Using yeast and mice as model organisms, he and his team investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation and repair of double-stranded DNA breaks, crucial for genetic information exchange between homologous chromosomes. By identifying these fundamental mechanisms, Keeney aims to shed light on the failures in recombination observed in conditions such as Down syndrome and certain cancers.

Keeney is a member of the American Academy of Microbiology, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences.