Marianne E. Bronner | |
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Alma mater | Brown University (Sc.B., 1975) Johns Hopkins University (PhD., 1979) |
Organization | California Institute of Technology |
Marianne Bronner is a developmental biologist who currently serves as Edward B. Lewis Professor of Biology and an executive officer for Neurobiology at the California Institute of Technology. Her most notable work includes her research on the neural crest.[1] Bronner's research focuses on studying the cellular events behind the migration, differentiation, and formation of neural crest cells.[2] She currently directs her own laboratory at the California Institute of Technology called the Bronner Laboratory, and she has authored over 400 articles in her field.[2][3]
When Bronner was 4, her family fled Hungary.[1] They moved to the United States after staying in Austria for six months. Both of her parents were survivors of the Holocaust.[1]
Bronner attended Brown University for her undergraduate studies.[1] After she graduated from Brown University, she decided to apply to the biophysics graduate school program at Johns Hopkins University.[1] Once there, she decided to take an undergraduate course in developmental biology.[4] From there, she continued to specialise in the field.[1]
Once Bronner graduated from Johns Hopkins University with her Ph.D., she began teaching at the University of California, Irvine.[1] Bronner spent 16 years at the University of California, Irvine and eventually became the associate director of the Developmental Biology Center.[1] In 1996, Bronner left the University of California, Irvine and moved her laboratory to the California Institute of Technology. In 2001, Bronner became Chair of the Faculty at Caltech, being the first woman to hold the position.[4] She held that position for two years.[4]
Bronner has been directing a laboratory at Caltech since she first arrived at the university.[4] The lab focuses most of its research on how neural crest cells arise and the factors involving their migration from the neural tube to different positions in the embryo in addition to the evolution of these cells.[4] One project focuses on characterizing the structures involved with neural crest cell movements.[5] Another project in the lab focuses on comparing the mechanisms behind neural crest invasive behavior and the mechanisms that allow for adult derivatives to become migratory and invasive.[5]