| 1 | Name: | Dr. David D. Sabatini | |
| Institution: | New York University School of Medicine | ||
| Year Elected: | 2000 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 202. Cellular and Developmental Biology | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1931 | ||
David D. Sabatini was born in Argentina, where he earned his medical degree from the Universidad Nacional del Litoral in 1954. Obtaining a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in 1960, Dr. Sabatini undertook postdoctoral training first at the Yale University School of Medicine and later at Rockefeller University. While at Yale, he introduced the glutaraldehyde fixation procedure for the preservation of subcellular structures, which revolutionized the field of biological electron microscopy by permitting cytochemical studies at the electron microscope level. In 1966, he received his Ph.D. from Rockefeller, where he remained as a faculty member in the Laboratory of Cell Biology. In 1972, Dr. Sabatini became Professor and Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology at the New York University School of Medicine, where he continued to investigate protein trafficking mechanisms, extending his work from the functions of the endoplasmic reticulum to the role of the Golgi apparatus in organelle and plasma membrane biogenesis. At New York University, he and his associates developed a system of cultured polarized kidney-derived epithelial cells (MDCK) which now serves as a common paradigm for studying the physiological properties of transporting epithelia. Using this system, they also discovered the polarized budding of enveloped viruses from epithelial cells. These studies provided the preeminent model currently used to investigate membrane protein sorting and plasma membrane biogenesis in epithelial cells. His current scientific interests continue to lie in the areas of protein traffic and membrane organelle biogenesis. David Sabatini has written more than 120 scientific publications and is the recipient of several scientific and teaching awards, including the Mayor's Award for Excellence in Science and Technology (2000) and New York University's Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award (2000). In 2014 he won the NAS Award in Molecular Biology. He became Frederick L. Ehrman Professor Emeritus of Cell Biology at New York University School of Medicine in 2016. Dr. Sabatini was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2000. | |||