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Dr. Melton was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1995 for notable research in molecular embryology. Work from his laboratory has advanced knowledge of how cell fates are specified during vertebrate development through studies on the localization of DNA transcripts in eggs and the proteins responsible for the induction of mesoderm and neural tissue.
Dr. Melton's research seeks to explain the molecular basis of how cell fates and organ formation are specified during development of frog, chick, and mouse embryos. His laboratory currently focuses on the development of the endoderm and its derivatives, principally the pancreas. His long-term goal is learning how manipulation of genes in stem cells could cause them to differentiate into pancreatic cells suitable for transplantation into patients with diabetes.
Dr. Melton, who joined the Stowers Institute Scientific Advisory Board in 1999, earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Illinois, a B.A. in history and philosophy of science at Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. in molecular biology at Trinity College and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge University. He is currently the Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor in the Natural Sciences at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Harvard University, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and co-director of Harvard's Stem Cell Institute and Center for Genomics Research. | 