Vivian Irish

Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Biographical Info

Dr. Irish obtained her Ph.D. from Harvard University, where she characterized the role of the DPP/TGFbeta signaling pathway in specifying dorsal-ventral polarity in the Drosophila embryo. After postdoctoral work investigating anterior-posterior patterning in Drosophila, she turned her attention to exploring patterning processes in the Arabidopsis flower. For a number of years she has focused on characterizing the genes and pathways regulating organogenesis and growth in the flower. She has also explored the extent to which these pathways are conserved across different flowering plant species. Using molecular, genetic and modeling approaches, her current research is centered on understanding how these processes are integrated in forming a petal, a simple laminar organ of few cell types, but whose form varies widely in different plant species.

Education & Training

B.A.

Wesleyan University (1980)

Ph.D.

Harvard University (1986)

Postdoctoral Fellow

Cambridge University, Genetics (1986 - 1989)

Postdoctoral Fellow

Yale University, Biology (1989 - 1991)

Honors & Recognition

• Postdoctoral Fellowship
  Jane Coffin Childs Fund (1986)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship
  National Science Foundation (1989)
• Junior Faculty Fellowship
  Yale University (1993)
• Visiting Professor
  ENS, Lyon, France (2011)