Valerie Reinke, PhD, professor of genetics, has been appointed chair of the Department of Genetics at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), effective today. For the past six years, Reinke has served as vice-chair of the department, and since July, she has held the role of interim chair.
Reinke received an undergraduate degree in genetics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Texas Health Science Center. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, she joined the YSM Department of Genetics in 2000. Since then, her lab has advanced genomic technologies to discover novel and fundamental gene regulatory mechanisms that direct germ cell function, organization, and development to understand how genome organization and composition influence complex tissue-specific regulatory programs, using the model organism C. elegans. In addition, she has long been a leader in multiple genome consortia focused on comprehensive identification of functional sequence elements to define global gene regulatory networks in both C. elegans and Drosophila.
Inside and beyond the lab, Reinke has a demonstrated commitment to training and mentorship, and as chair, she will continue to cultivate collaborations across YSM to facilitate research projects, funding, and training opportunities to foster outstanding science that leads to fundamental discoveries in basic and translational genetic research. She is committed to promoting the success of faculty in the department and to increasing scientific collaboration among sections within the department. Across these efforts, she is committed to integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion into departmental practices and to creating a culture of support, mentorship, and sponsorship.