Catherine Dulac

Last updated
Catherine Dulac
Catherine Dulac.jpg
Born1963 [1]
Alma mater University of Paris
Known forMammalian pheromones
Awards Richard Lounsbery Award Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
Scientific career
Academic advisors Richard Axel

Catherine Dulac is a French-American biologist. [2] She is the Higgins Professor in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University, where she served as department chair from 2007 to 2013. [3] She is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She was born in 1963 in France. She came to the United States for her postdoctoral study in 1991.

Contents

Dulac has done extensive research on the molecular biology of olfactory signaling in mammals, particularly including pheromones, [4] and downstream brain circuits controlling sex-specific behaviors. [5] She developed a novel screening strategy based on screening cDNA libraries from single neurons and a new method of cloning genes from single neurons. As a postdoc, Dulac discovered the first family of mammalian pheromone receptors when working in Nobel laureate Richard Axel's laboratory at Columbia University. [6]

Biography

Dulac grew up in Montpellier, France, graduated from the École Normale Supérieure de la rue d'Ulm, Paris, and earned a Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University of Paris in 1991. [1] She worked with Nicole Le Douarin on developmental biology, and carried out her postdoc studies with Richard Axel at Columbia University where she identified the first genes encoding mammalian pheromone receptors.

Dulac joined the faculty of Harvard Molecular and Cell Biology in 1996, [7] She was promoted to associate professor in 2000 and full professor in 2001. She is currently an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and was the Chair of Harvard's Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology [1] until 2013. She teaches three graduate level course including Molecular Basis of Behavior, Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Senses and Their Disorders, and Molecular and Developmental Biology Neurobiology.

Publications

Notable papers

Other

Awards and honors

She was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2019. [11]

Related Research Articles

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The vomeronasal organ (VNO), or Jacobson's organ, is the paired auxiliary olfactory (smell) sense organ located in the soft tissue of the nasal septum, in the nasal cavity just above the roof of the mouth in various tetrapods. The name is derived from the fact that it lies adjacent to the unpaired vomer bone in the nasal septum. It is present and functional in all snakes and lizards, and in many mammals, including cats, dogs, cattle, pigs, and some primates. Some humans may have physical remnants of a VNO, but it is vestigial and non-functional.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAS2R1</span> Member of the 25 known human bitter taste receptors

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAS2R3</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

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Homer protein homolog 3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HOMER3 gene.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vomeronasal receptor</span> Class of olfactory receptors

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . academie-sciences.fr
  2. ↑ "Harvard scientist Catherine Dulac awarded for work on parenting instinct". RFI. September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  3. ↑ "McGovern Institute awards 2017 Scolnick Prize to Catherine Dulac". MIT News. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  4. ↑ Gitschier, J. (2011). "Vive La Différence: An Interview with Catherine Dulac". PLOS Genetics. 7 (6): e1002140. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1002140. PMC   3121755 . PMID   21731502.
  5. ↑ "McGovern Institute awards 2017 Scolnick Prize to Catherine Dulac". MIT News. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Catherine Dulac". Harvard University. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Harvard Portrait: Catherine Dulac", Harvard Magazine, Sept. – Oct. 2005.
  8. ↑ Hastings, J. W. (May 12, 2004) "Catherine Dulac Elected to Membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences" Archived 2016-11-15 at the Wayback Machine , Harvard University MCB News.
  9. ↑ "Dulac Receives Award from Society for Neuroscience". Harvard University – Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology. October 19, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  10. ↑ Knapp, Alex. "2021 Breakthrough Prize Winners Announced: Researcher Who Developed Protein Design Technology Awarded $3 Million". Forbes. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Catherine Dulac Elected to American Philosophical Society". Harvard University – Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology. June 13, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
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