In 1984, Blackburn and Grader discovered the enzyme telomerase and proved that a number of hereditary diseases have their origin in its defects. In 1987, K. Grader defended her doctoral dissertation in molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Since 1997, she has worked at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, where she led molecular biology and genetics research. In 2009, Carol Grader, together with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Shostak, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work on the mechanisms of cell aging and the protection of chromosomes from degradation by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
Grader has dyslexia and says that "her compensatory skills have also played a role in my success as a scientist, because you need to intuitively understand many different things happening at the same time and apply them to a particular problem."
Initially, Grader had difficulty applying to graduate school due to low GRE scores as a result of her dyslexia. She applied to thirteen universities, but was accepted to only two - Caltech and UC Berkeley. She chose Berkeley, where she was able to work with Elizabeth Blackburn, with whom she made her telomerase discovery.
