Michael B. O'Connor

Dr. O'Connor received his Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from Brown University in 1976. After several years working outside of academia, he attended graduate school at Tufts University School of Medicine and completed his PhD thesis in 1984. His thesis work was carried out under the guidance of Dr. Michael Malamy and examined mechanisms of drug resistant transfer in bacteria. He then went on to pursue postdoctoral studies in the laboratory of Dr. Welcome Bender at Harvard University where he first began his studies of Drosophila development. His postdoctoral work focused on regulation of homeotic gene expression, a project that he used to launch his independent research career in 1988 at the University of California-Irvine. It was while at Irvine that he became interested in mechanisms of cell-cell communication and began to focus his efforts on the role of BMP and associated factors in regulating early embryonic development. In 1996, he moved to the Department of Genetics, Cell biology and Development (GCD) at University of Minnesota as a HHMI investigator and holder of the Ordway professorship in developmental biology. His research at Minnesota continues to explore the molecular mechanisms by which TGF-s-type factors regulate developmental and homeostatic processes in Drosophila including roles in metabolic control, imaginal disc growth, and NMJ function. In addition, he initiated a new research direction with emphasis on determining the molecular mechanisms of neuroendorine signaling that control the timing of steroid production and the initiation of insect metamorphosis. In 2008 he left HHMI and became the GCD Department head, a position he continues to hold today. Dr. O’Connor is also an editorial board member for the journal Developmental Biology and an associate editor for the journal Frontiers in Experimental Endocrinology. He was the 2012 president of North America Drosophila board of directors and continues to serve as a board member through 2015.

スピーカーリストに戻る