Davor Solter

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Davor Solter (born March 22, 1941[ citation needed ]) is a Yugoslavian-born developmental biologist, particularly known for his pioneering work on mammalian genomic imprinting. He is Emeritus Member and Director, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics; Visiting International Professor, Siriraj Center for Excellence in Stem Cell Research, Mahidol University, Thailand; and Visiting Professor, University of Zagreb Medical School.

Contents

Education and career

Solter was born in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, in 1941. His M.D. (1965) and Ph.D. (1971) degrees are from the University of Zagreb, [1] where he worked in the Departments of Anatomy and Biology of the School of Medicine (1963–73). He then moved to the United States, where he worked at the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, rising to full professor in 1981. He joined the University of Pennsylvania in 1982, becoming the Wistar Professor of Biology in 1984. [2] He directed the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, Germany, from 1991 to 2006. [2] [3] In 2008 he moved to Singapore, where worked at the National University of Singapore (in association with Duke University; 2008–13) and also served as research director of the Institute of Medical Biology, A*STAR. In 2014 he moved to Thailand, where as of 2018 he holds a visiting professorship at Mahidol University, Bangkok. [1]

Awards

In 2018, he was a recipient of the Canada Gairdner International Award, with Azim Surani, "For the discovery of mammalian genomic imprinting that causes parent-of-origin specific gene expression and its consequences for development and disease." [4] He won the Rosenstiel Award in 2006, with Surani and Mary Lyon, for "pioneering work on epigenetic gene regulation in mammalian embryos". [5] Other awards include the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology (1998) "For pioneering the concept of gene imprinting". [6]

He is an elected or honorary member of the Academia Europaea (1992), European Molecular Biology Organization (1994), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994) and the Japanese Biochemical Society (1995). [2]

Key papers

Related Research Articles

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon that causes genes to be expressed or not, depending on whether they are inherited from the mother or the father. Genes can also be partially imprinted. Partial imprinting occurs when alleles from both parents are differently expressed rather than complete expression and complete suppression of one parent's allele. Forms of genomic imprinting have been demonstrated in fungi, plants and animals. In 2014, there were about 150 imprinted genes known in mice and about half that in humans. As of 2019, 260 imprinted genes have been reported in mice and 228 in humans.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Davor Solter receives Gairdner Award 2018". Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics. March 28, 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Davor Solter". The Academy of Europe. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  3. "Previous Directors of the Institute". Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  4. "Gairdner Awards 2018 Laureates | Gairdner Foundation". Gairdner Foundation. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  5. "Past Winners". Brandeis University. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  6. "March of Dimes and Richard B. Johnston, Jr, MD Prize in Developmental Biology awardees" (PDF). March of Dimes. Retrieved 25 March 2019.

Further reading