Susan Celniker

Last updated
Susan E. Celniker
Alma mater Pitzer College
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Known for Drosophila genome
Scientific career
Institutions Berkeley Lab
Caltech

Susan E. Celniker is an American biologist, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and an adjunct professor Comparative Biochemistry department at UC Berkeley. She is the co-director of the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project. [1]

Contents

She has pioneered Drosophila functional genomics, [2] the use of the fruit fly as a genetic model organism for human and environmental health, and launched studies of the transcriptome for NHGRI's modENCODE (which serves as an encyclopedia of DNA Elements) project. Her work was pivotal in making the Drosophila genome one of the best curated animal genomes, and a widely used model for genomic research.

Education

Celniker graduated from Pitzer College with a BA in Biology and Anthropology and her PhD in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. [3]

Career

After completing her PhD, she started research as a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech under NIH Postdoctoral Service Award from 1983 to 1986 where she worked with Edward B. Lewis (who later became Nobel Laureate in 1995) where she explored the structure and the function of Abdominal B (Abd-B), the most distal gene in the Drosophila bithorax complex. [4] In 1995, she was hired as a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Women in Science

Celniker is an advocate of Women in STEM, and she is the founder of the "Leo Celniker Fund for Women in Science," [5] named after her father Leo Celniker, who was a physicist and a member of National Organization of Women (NOW) for 20 years.

Awards and honors

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References

  1. Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project
  2. The Genome Sequence of Drosophila melanogaster, Science Vol. 287, Issue 5461, pp. 2185-2195 (24 Mar 2000)
  3. BSE Leadership, Berkeley Lab
  4. Celniker: Foundational Resources To Study a Dynamic Genome, The 2016 GSA Honors And Awards
  5. "Susan Celniker Creates STEM Fund in Her Father's Memory".
  6. Lifetime Achievement Awardee- Susan Celniker, Berkeley Lab
  7. Genetics Society of America names Susan Celniker as recipient of George W. Beadle Award