Terry Orr-Weaver | |
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Alma mater | Harvard University |
Known for | identification of genes for chromosome separation |
Awards | 2006 Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology 2006 National Academy of Sciences 2010 Fellow of American Association for Advancement of Science 2013 FASEB Excellence in Science Award 2018 Flexner Discovery Lecturer at Vanderbilt University |
Scientific career | |
Fields | genetics, developmental biology, cell biology |
Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Whitehead Institute |
Thesis | (1984) |
Doctoral advisor | Jack Szostak |
Terry L. Orr-Weaver is an American molecular biologist in the MIT Department of Biology with a joint appointment to the Whitehead Institute. She does research on developmental biology, with a focus on "[c]oordination of cell growth and division with development, with particular focus on the oocyte-to-embryo transition, control of cell size, and regulation of metazoan DNA replication."[1] Orr-Weaver and her collaborators have identified two proteins necessary for the proper sorting of chromosomes during meiosis with implications for cancer and birth defects.[2] In 2006 she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.[2]