Dr. Epand received his A.B. from Johns Hopkins University in 1959 and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1964. After working at Cornell University as postdoctoral fellow until 1968, he joined the Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas in Buenos Aires, which was directed by the 1970 Nobel Laureate, Luis Leloir. In 1969, he joined the faculty of the University of Guelph and in 1974 moved to McMaster University, where he is currently Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences. He has also been a visiting scientist at Yale University.
Dr. Epand is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Chemistry and Physics of Lipids. He has edited several influential books in the field of biological membranes. He has also been the Executive Editor of the Biomembranes section of Biochimica and Biophysica Acta, and a member of the editorial boards of the Biochemical Journal, Bioscience Reports, Journal of Liposome Research and Current Topics in Biophysics. Dr. Epand has published more than 650 papers with an hindex of 64 (as of 2015). His contributions have been recognized through numerous honours and awards, including:
- Avanti Award in Lipids from the Biophysical Society (U.S.A.)
- Senior Investigator Award of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Fellow of the Biophysical Society (U.S.A.)
- Honorary Fellowship from the Spanish Biophysical Society
- President of the Biophysical Society of Canada
- Chair of the Membranes Structure and Assembly subgroup of the Biophysical Society
Selected Publications:
- “Distinct Properties of the two isoforms of CDP-diacylglycerol Synthase” K. D’Souza, Y.J. Kim, T. Balla, & R.M. Epand Biochemistry (2014) 53, 7358-7367.
- “Diacylglycerol kinase delta promotes lipogenesis” Y.V. Shulga, D. Loukov, P.T. Ivanova, S.B. Milne, D.S. Myers, G.M. Hatch, G. Umeh, D. Jalan, M.D. Fullerton, G.R. Steinberg, M.K. Topham, H.A. Brown & R.M. Epand Biochemistry (2013) 52, 7766-7776.
- “Dual Function of Mitochondrial Nm23-H4 Protein in Phosphotransfer and Intermembrane Lipid Transfer: A Cardiolipin-Dependent Switch” U. Schlattner, M. Tokarska-Schlattner, S. Ramirez, Y.Y. Tyurina, A.A. Amoscato, D. Mohammadyani, Z. Huang, J. Jiang, N. Yanamala, A. Seffouh, M. Boissan, R.F. Epand, R.M. Epand, J. Klein-Seetharaman, M.L. Lacombe, & V.E. Kagan Journal of Biological Chemistry (2013) 288, 111-121.
- “The physical state of lipid substrates provides transacylation specificity for tafazzin” M. Schlame D. Acehan, B. Berno,Y. Xu, S. Valvo, M. Ren, D.L. Stokes, R.M. Epand Nature Chemical Biology (2012) 8, 862-869.
- “Functional studies of cochleate assemblies of an oligo-acyl-lysyl with lipid mixtures for combating bacterial multidrug resistance” H. Sarig, D. Ohana, R.F. Epand, A. Mor, R.M. Epand Richard M. Epand The FASEB Journal (2011) 25, 3336–3343.
- “Study of Arachidonoyl Specificity in Two Enzymes of the PI Cycle” Y.V. Shulga, M.K. Topham & R.M. Epand Journal of Molecular Biology (2011) 409, 101-112.
- “The final conformation of the complete ectodomain of the HA2 subunit of influenza hemagglutinin can by itself drive Low pH- dependent fusion” C.S. Kim, R.F. Epand, E. Leikina, R.M. Epand & L.V. Chernomordik Journal of Biological Chemistry (2011) 286, 13226-13234.
- “Diacylglycerol kinase epsilon is selective for both acyl chains of phosphatidic acid or diacylglycerol” M. Lung, Y.V. Shulga, P.T. Ivanova, D.S. Myers, S.B. Milne, H.A. Brown, M.K. Topham, R.M. Epand Journal of Biological Chemistry (2009) 284, 31062-31073.
- “Dramatic Differences in the Roles in Lipid Metabolism of Two Isoforms of Diacylglycerol Kinase” S.B. Milne, P.T. Ivanova, M.D. Armstrong, D.S. Myers, J. Lubarda, Y.V. Shulga, M.K. Topham, H.A. Brown & R.M. Epand Biochemistry (2008) 47, 9372-9379.
- “Bacterial membranes as a predictor of antimicrobial potency” R.M. Epand, S. Rotem, A. Mor, B. Berno & R.F. Epand Journal of the American Chemical Society (2008) 130, 14346-14352.
