[1] She is the former president of the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (SRBR),[2] as well as a satellite member of the International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine at the University of Tsukuba in Japan.
The general focus of the Green Lab is to understand the molecular mechanism of the mammalian circadian clock and how it mediates rhythmicity within the physiology, biochemistry, and behavior of an organism.
Her lab currently has three main projects: identifying targets and mechanisms of expression regulation of the Nocturnin gene; identifying the mechanism of metabolic control of Nocturnin knockout lean mice; and defining structural components of the repressor protein Cryptochrome and how regulation of the nuclear entry of the protein contributes to circadian period length.
At the June 23–28, 2019 Gordon Research Conference, “Clocks in Model Organisms: Circadian Networks, Physiology and Health,” she is organizing the “GRC Power Hour,” a panel designed to promote diversity and inclusion for women and minorities in the STEM field as well as encourage the professional growth of all members from all communities by providing a space for discussion and mentorship.
After spending some time in Wyoming with her mother during her early years, Green's family moved frequently—first to Denver, Colorado; then to Saint Paul, Minnesota; and finally to Springfield, Missouri when she was in first grade.
From 1991-1996, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Joseph Besharse in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, where she worked on the molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythmicity in the retinal photoreceptors of Xenopus laevis.
Green is married to Joseph Takahashi, who is the current chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Nocturnin is a deadenylase thought to be involved in the degradation of mRNA polyA tails, suggesting that it plays a role in post-transcriptional stability and regulation of circadian gene expression, which is most beneficial to the metabolism and ultimately, survival of an organism.
Interestingly, Green's group has shown that though Noc is not directly involved in regulating the master clock gene expression, it is required for oscillator output functions thereby contributing to circadian physiology.
Recent findings in 2016 inspired by Green's research contribute to post-transcriptional control of human circadian systems in relation to chronomedicine and sleep disorders.
Green has worked extensively with an amphibian, the African clawed frog (or Xenopus laevis), as well as mammalian CRY1 and CRY2, to try and uncover the mysteries of these essential transcriptional repressors.