Thomas Pollard is an educator, cell biologist, biophysicist. He studied cell motility in the context of actin filaments and myosin motors. He made significant contributions to molecular, cellular and developmental biology. As professor and dean of the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, he has received a significant number of awards and prizes.
Biography. Education
Thomas Dean Pollard was born on July 7, 1942. From 2010 to 2014, he was President of the Institute for Biological Research. He studied at Pomona College and received his bachelor's degree in 1964. He later attended Harvard Medical School and graduated cum laude in 1968. He did an internship at the Massachusetts General Hospital and then decided to help people: he began a career as a doctor. At the moment, the scientist is married to Patricia Snowden: they have two children.
Career and first studies
The famous scientist began his career as a physician and staff member of the National Heart and Lung Institute. Later he decides to return to Harvard and become an assistant professor of anatomy in 1972. In 1977, the scientist was appointed professor and chairman of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The laboratory under his direction is discovering several important cellular proteins. In 1996, Thomas becomes president of the Salk Institute for Biological Research in La Jolla, California. His productive research in the context of structural biology is also carried out there.
In parallel, Pollard is Associate Professor of Biology, Bioengineering, Chemistry, and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. In 2001 he smoothly transferred his laboratory back to Yale University. He is currently a professor and head of the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry.
Pollard is known for actively promoting his research in biology through two large communities: the American Society for Cell Biology and the Biophysical Society. In both, he served as a former president.
Pollard is currently a member and an official member of:
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences (since 1990);
- US National Academy of Sciences (since 1992);
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (since 1993);
- American Academy of Microbiology (since 1997);
- Biophysical Society (since 1999);
- Institute of Medicine (since 1999).
Thomas Pollard Awards and Awards
During his career and research he was awarded:
- Rosenstiel Prize, Brandeis University (with James Spudich in 1996);
- Civil Service Awards, Biophysical Society (1997);
- Wilson Medals, American Society for Cell Biology (2004);
- The International Geirdner Prize in Biomedical Sciences (2006);
- NAS awards for scientific review (2015).
Under his leadership and with the help of William S. Earnshaw (Ph. D.), Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, Graham Johnson (illustrator) publishes the textbook "Cell Biology".
