Vivian Irish, PhD

Dr. Vivian Irish is the Daniel C. Eaton Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. She 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 cells and tissues are patterned, epigenetic control of developmental processes, and how stem cell activity is regulated in plants. Additionally, part of her work focuses on biotechnological applications to improve agriculture.