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Dylan Taatjes studied chemistry as an undergraduate and got his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in the lab of Dr. Tad Koch. His Ph.D. work uncovered the mechanism of action of anthracycline anti-tumor drugs that were widely used in the clinic. During his Ph.D., Dr. Taatjes became fascinated with transcription and cancer biology and decided to transition away from chemistry, in large part because it was apparent that many more discoveries would be made in the biological and biomedical sciences. He worked at the interface of molecular biology, biochemistry, and structural biology during his postdoctoral studies with Dr. Robert Tjian at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Taatjes joined the faculty at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2004 and is currently a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry. His research interests include the regulation of gene expression, with an emphasis on molecular mechanisms and biochemical reconstitution of RNA polymerase II transcription.