Enrique M. De La Cruz, PhD

Enrique M. De La Cruz, PhD is the William R. Kenan Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and the Head of Branford College at Yale University. He is a first-generation Cuban-American who was raised in Newark, NJ. Dr. De La Cruz received his undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Rutgers University, Newark College of Arts and Sciences, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Beta Beta Honor Societies. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology (BCMB) at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and received postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He joined the MB&B faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2001 and chaired the Department from 2000-2003. He was a Visiting Scientist at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique (CEA) & Universite Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France, a Mayent-Rothschild Senior Researcher Fellow at the Institut Curie, Paris, and an Invited Professor Fellow at ESPCI Paris Tech (ecole superieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris). In 2020, he was honored as Cell Press’ 100 inspiring Hispanic/Latinx scientists in America, in 2021 named an Inaugural Fellow of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) and a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE), and in 2022 a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. De La Cruz’s research focuses on the actin cytoskeleton, molecular motor proteins, and nucleotide signaling enzymes. Dr. De La Cruz is actively involved with various scientific societies, journals, and peer review committees, and actively participates in outreach activities focused on enhancing minority participation, career development and retention in the sciences.