Department of Developmental & Molecular Biology

The Department was established in 1965 as the Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer (DBC), under the chairmanship of Dr. Jerard Hurwitz. During his direction from 1965 –1984, the department’s first-rate research program was focused on nucleic acid biochemistry, protein synthesis, and protein sorting. When Dr. Hurwitz left Einstein for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute in 1984, the department consisted of 5 faculty.

Dr. E. Richard Stanley succeeded Dr. Hurwitz as DBC Chair in 1987, retaining 3 distinguished remaining faculty, with programs in protein synthesis and protein sorting. DBC was subsequently renamed Developmental and Molecular Biology (DMB) and in conjunction with the Department of Molecular Genetics, recruited new faculty working in development – recruitments that contributed to the establishment of strong research programs in Drosophila, Xenopus, zebrafish, and mice. Additional appointments were in the area of Cell Biology. Further recruiting was carried out in conjunction with the Cancer Center, the Liver Center, the Diabetes Center and the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics.

Over the 23 years of Dr. Stanley’s tenure, DMB expanded and diversified considerably to include 12 primary and 10 secondary appointees, with all faculty members actively contributing to departmental life. Stanley stepped down as Chair in 2010 and DMB was for 8 years ably led by Interim Chair Dr. Liang Zhu, prior to his premature retirement due to ill-health in 2018. Stanley became Interim Chair in November 2018 and with the generous support of Dean Tomaselli, the department has been bolstered by the recruitment of new faculty and an influx of faculty from the former Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology.