| 1 | Name: | Dr. Judith Kimble | |
| Institution: | University of Wisconsin, Madison; Howard Hughes Medical Institute | ||
| Year Elected: | 2002 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 202. Cellular and Developmental Biology | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1949 | ||
How are cells controlled to grow or differentiate during animal development? Judith Kimble tackled that fundamental question in the developing germline of a small nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. Early in her career she identified the somatic niche that promotes germline growth during development. Since then she discovered that Notch signaling from the niche promotes continued mitosis at the expense of meiotic entry. More recently, she and collaborators have elucidated the molecular network that maintains germline stem cells and controls their balance between mitosis and meiotic entry. Remarkably this network also controls the sperm/oocyte decision, although the mechanism of that dual control is still being addressed. Dr. Kimble has become one of the most respected and creative developmental biologists by exploiting the power of genetics and molecular biology to unravel complex developmental phenomena. Based on her work and that of others, developmental biologists came to realize that embryos as different as worms, fruit flies and mammals share similar developmental mechanisms. Dr. Kimble is the Vilas Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Medical Genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she began as a faculty member in 1983; she is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1994. Dr. Kimble is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1995) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1995) and holds a Ph. D. from the University of Colorado-Boulder. | |||