Roger Cooke (1940–2024), a biophysicist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, passed away on August 1, 2024. Roger was one of the leading members of the Biophysical Society for half a century, using spectroscopic probes to solve some of the most important problems in the fundamental molecular mechanisms of motor proteins in both muscle and non-muscle cells.
Roger was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, raised in Kentucky, and educated in physics at MIT (BS) and the University of Illinois (PhD). He did a brief postdoc at the University of California, San Francisco and joined its faculty in 1971, where he was a world leader in muscle biophysics for more than 50 years.
Roger was one of the most innovative molecular biophysicists, challenging and revising conventional models for force generation and movement by direct and precise measurement of protein structural changes. He was a creative and innovative engineer, employing an approach he referred to as “barnyard engineering” to devise new instruments and approaches, to solve previously intractable problems. He was also a superb collaborator, solving a wide range of important problems by connecting (and sharing his infectious joy of discovery) with other scientists who were innovators in spectroscopic probes or the expression and manipulation of specific proteins and animal models.
Among his many important discoveries in the myosin-actin system in muscle are 1) the super-relaxed state (SRX) of muscle, 2) molecular mechanisms of fatigue, 3) the regulation of SRX and fatigue by myosin phosphorylation, and 4) the mechanism of force generation in muscle, in which myosin rotates on actin by rotation within the myosin head.
Roger also made major contributions to the mechanisms of other motors proteins, most notably kinesin-tubulin. As in the myosin-actin field, his discoveries in this field on structural dynamics, protein interactions, and kinetics have established a new framework for understanding cellular movement, accelerating progress in biomedical research.
Roger was an active member of the Biophysical Society. He was elected as a Fellow of the Biophysical Society in 2022, recognizing his lifetime of contributions. He also played a major role in organizing the Annual Meeting in 1988.
Roger was multitalented and fearless in so many ways, especially on the water, where he excelled at swimming and sailing. He entertained his friends and collaborators in sailing all over San Francisco Bay. But perhaps his greatest talent was as a friend. His friends all miss him.