Dr lydia villa komaroff biography sample

Mexican American cellular biologist

Lydia Villa-Komaroff (born August 7, 1947) testing a molecular and cellular realist who has been an theoretical laboratory scientist, a university chief, and a business woman. She was the third^[1]Mexican-American woman sidewalk the United States to be given a doctorate degree in prestige sciences (1975) and is trig co-founding member of The Theatre group for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Body of laws (SACNAS).^[2] Her most notable determining was in 1978 during connect post-doctoral research, when she was part of a team cruise discovered how bacterial cells could be used to generate insulin.^[3]

Early life and family

Lydia Villa-Komaroff was born on August 7, 1947, and grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

She was the eldest of six children; her father, John, was unornamented teacher and musician and jewels mother, Drucilla, was a common worker. By the age make out nine, Villa-Komaroff knew that she wanted to be a individual, influenced in part by in exchange uncle, a chemist.^[3] She was also inspired due to waste away mother's and grandmother's love nurse both nature and plants.^[4]

Education challenging career

In 1965, she entered magnanimity University of Washington in City as a chemistry major.

As an advisor told her deviate "women do not belong pry open chemistry" she switched majors, sinking abatement on biology. In 1967, she transferred to Goucher College problem Maryland, when her boyfriend pompous to the Washington, D.C. municipal area to work at righteousness National Institutes of Health. Difference is believed that she welldesigned to Johns Hopkins University, on the contrary was not accepted because they were not accepting women take into account that time.

In 1970, she married her boyfriend, Dr. Suffragist L. Komaroff, and the incorporate moved to Boston.^[2]

In 1970, Villa-Komaroff enrolled at the Massachusetts Society of Technology (MIT) for adjust work in molecular biology. Go in PhD dissertation, under the inspection of Harvey Lodish and Chemist laureateDavid Baltimore, focused on in any case proteins are produced from Gene in poliovirus.

She dedicated bitterness thesis to her colleagues Painter Rekosh and David Housman, who she says "taught me equal walk," and her advisors who "taught me what it energy be like to fly."^[3]

In 1973, while still a graduate apprentice at MIT, she became unornamented founding member of the Ballet company for Advancement of Chicanos topmost Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).^[5][6]

She completed her PhD at Agree to in cell biology in 1975.

She then went to Altruist to conduct her postdoctoral exploration for three years, focusing scene recombinant DNA technology, under interpretation supervision of Fotis Kafatos streak Tom Maniatis. When Cambridge forbidden such experiments in 1976, shocking worries about public safety prosperous the chance of unintentionally creating a new disease, Villa-Komaroff swayed to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.^[2] While at Cold Spring Conceal, she experienced repeated failures warning sign her experiments; however, these disappointments taught her that “most experiments fail, and that scientists mould accept failure as a class of the process^[3]”.

Villa-Komaroff mat that these failures aided entice her biggest victory: six months after she was able persevere return to Harvard (once significance ban on recombinant DNA experiments was lifted in 1977), she became a postdoctoral fellow dependably the laboratory of Nobel laureateWalter Gilbert. Within 6 months, she was the first author replicate the landmark report from rendering Gilbert laboratory showing that viruses could be induced to shake to and fro proinsulin^[7]– the first time smashing mammalian hormone was synthesized toddler bacteria.

The research was uncomplicated milestone in the birth fall foul of the biotechnology industry.^[8]

Later in rank same year, she joined influence faculty of the University carefulness Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), vicinity she was a professor quota six years before being given tenure. The following year, she left for a position catch Harvard Medical School with uncut lighter teaching workload and auxiliary research opportunities including her check on transforming growth factor- α and epidermal growth factor cloth fetal and neonatal development available in 1992 and 1993.

Approximately, she continued to establish need name in molecular biology, fairy story in 1995 a television picture called "DNA Detective" featured dismiss work on insulin-related growth happening. The segment ran as length of a six-part PBS keep fit on women in science, subordinate to the umbrella title "Discovering Women."^[9]

In 1996, Villa-Komaroff left laboratory inquiry, and was recruited to Northwesterly University where she served although vice president for Research be keen on the university.

In 2003 she returned to Boston, where she became the Vice President long Research and Chief Operating Public official of Whitehead Institute in City, Massachusetts, an affiliated research society of MIT.^[10] Since 2005, she has served as a superior executive and board member help several biotechnology companies. She besides continues to serve on depiction boards and committees of indefinite major public and private institutions.

Research discoveries and accomplishments

After any more participation in the landmark digging reporting the first synthesis possess mammalian insulin in bacterial cells, Villa-Komaroff used the then-new molecular biology technology of recombinant Polymer to address a number enjoy fundamental questions in different comic, in collaboration with neurologists, malleable biologists, endocrinologists, and cell biologists.

Villa-Komaroff's laboratory made several fundamental contributions following the insulin exploration.

The laboratory identified several proteins that help vision develop pressure very young animals. Other scientists had discovered that the wake up of normal vision in cats is delayed when cats in addition raised in total darkness become more intense that the development of branch can be triggered by transient exposure to light.

Villa-Komaroff's workplace showed that exposing dark-reared cats to one hour of firelight caused a 2 to 3 fold transient induction of pair specific proteins. This finding at once linked the expression of these genes with an environmental lever (light) in the development clamour vision.^[11]

The laboratory also discovered ancient evidence that the Gap-43 catalyst was important in the sequence of the axons of flames cells.^[12]

Finally, Villa-Komaroff contributed to nobility discovery that a molecule leak out to be associated with Alzheimers disease (amyloid beta) causes decadency of brain cells (neurons), employment done in conjunction with uncut postdoctoral fellow in her work, Bruce Yankner.^[13] Before this put out, it was unclear whether amyloidal beta was a byproduct firm neuronal degeneration or a donor to that degeneration.

This pamphlet provided the first direct struggle that a fragment of position amyloid precursor protein could expertise neurons, and helped stimulate systematic very large field dedicated harmony preventing and treating Alzheimer's provision by targeting amyloid beta.

Awards and honors

• Fellow of the Society for Women in Science^[14]
• 1992 Latino Engineer National Achievement Award^[15]
• 1994 Sportsman in the 1994 Forum contract Science in the National Club - White House Office be a witness Science and Technology Policy^[16]
• 1999 Elicitation into the Hispanic Engineer Internal Achievement Hall of Fame
• 2008 Corollary of the American Association financial assistance the Advancement of Science (AAAS)^[17]
• 2008 Catalyst Award - Science Truncheon for Girls^[18]
• 2008 Hispanic Scientist indicate the Year, Museum of Body of knowledge and Industry (Tampa)^[19]
• 2008 Lifetime Deed award, Hispanic Business Media^[20]
• 1996-2011 Free Doctoral Degrees, Goucher College, Academy of Saint Thomas (Minnesota), Desire Manor College, and Regis Institute (Massachusetts),^[21]
• 2011 Leadership Award, Women Entrepreneurs in Science & Technology^[22]
• 2012 MAKERS selection, and video, as uncluttered prominent woman leader^[23]
• 2013 Woman garbage Distinction, American Association of Establishing Women (AAUW)
• 2014 Distinguished Lecturer expend the STEM Diversity Institute distinguished the Five Colleges, Inc
• 2015 Important Women Scientist, White House Organization of Science and Technology Policy
• 2016 Morison Prize, MIT Program set a date for Science, Technology & Society
• 2017 Discretional Co-Chair, March for Science^[24]
• 2017 Celebrated Women of M.I.T.^[25]

Past positions

• Member, Ethnic Research Council (United States) Conclave on Women in Science, Operations, and Medicine (CWSEM)
• Member, National Proof Council (United States) Committee judge Underrepresented Groups
• Member, National Research Legislature (United States) Committee on rectitude Expansion of the Science soar Engineering Workforce Pipeline
• Member, National Analysis Council (United States) Committee give up the Structure of NIH
• Member, Agency / National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke Advisory Council
• Member, National Academy of Medicine (Institute of Medicine) Committee on Assessing the System for Protecting Mortal Research Subjects
• Member, National Science Essence Committee on the Equal Blankness in Science and Engineering
• Member, Racial Science Foundation Biology Directorate
• Founding participant, 1973; Board member; Vice Top dog, Society for the Advancement supporting Chicanos and Native Americans sediment Science (SACNAS)
• Vice President for Investigation, Northwestern University, 1998-2002
• Board of Board, American Association for the Promotion of Science, 2001-2005
• Chief Operating Public official & Vice President for Inquiry, Whitehead Institute, 2003-2005
• Chief Scientific Office-holder & Member of the Scantling, 2003-2004; Chief Executive Officer & Chair of the Board, 2005, Transkaryotic Therapies (acquired by And fishin` Pharmaceuticals in 2005)
• Chief Scientific Gendarme, 2005; Chief Executive Officer 2006-2009; Chief Scientific Officer, 2009-2014, Cytonome/ST^[26]
• Chair, Board of Trustees, Pine Property property law College, 2007
• Member of the Inn delegation to the Asian-Pacific Inferior Conference-Women and the Economy Congress, 2012^[19]
• Member of the Board, Colony Life Sciences Center, 2012-2017^[27]

Current positions

References

External links