Scott E. Fraser

Dr. Scott E. Fraser has been the Anna L. Rosen Professor of Biology and Director of the Biological Imaging Center at the Beckman Institute at the California Institute of Technology since 1991. In 2007 he became the Director of the Rosen Center for Biological Engineering. Before coming to Caltech, he served on the faculty and as the Chair of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of California, Irvine. Professor Fraser earned his B.S. with honors in Physics from Harvey Mudd College and his Ph.D. in Biophysics with Distinction from Johns Hopkins University. He has been active in the advanced training of interdisciplinary students and post-doctoral fellows, serving as the co-director of the Marine Biological Lab's Embryology Course (with Professor Marianne Bronner-Fraser) and the co-director of Caltech's Initiative in Computational Molecular Biology (with professor Michael Roukes). Dr. Fraser is involved in many professional societies including the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Society for Developmental Biology; the Society for Neuroscience; the Biophysicalcal Society; the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers; and the American Society for Cell Biology. His teaching has earned recognition: the Silver Beaker Award for Best Medical School Faculty Member, the Kaiser-Permanente Award for Best Medical School Teaching, and the Caltech Graduate Mentoring Award. Dr. Fraser was also awarded the McKnight Scholar Award, the Marcus Singer Medal, and was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Fraser's research has long explored the cell movements and cell lineages that pattern the early embryo using advanced imaging technologies. His work has resulted in new designs for light and MRI microscopes that can capture 3-D images at cellular and sub-cellular resolution. His current work uses transgenic approaches to label defined cells in the embryos of invertebrates (Drosophila, sea urchin) and vertebrates (frog, fish, quail, mouse) to better understand cell and tissue level events of development by observing it as it takes place.