Catherine Dulac

Catherine Dulac
Born	1963[1]
Alma mater	University of Paris
Academic advisors	Richard Axel
Known for	Mammalian pheromones
Notable awards	Richard Lounsbery Award

Catherine Dulac (born 1963) is a French-American biologist notable for research on the molecular biology of olfactory signaling in mammals, particularly including pheromones.^[2] She developed a novel screening strategy based on screening cDNA libraries from single neurons and a new method of cloning genes from single neurons. As a postdoc, Dulac discovered the first family of mammalian pheromone receptors with Nobel laureate Richard Axel. Dulac is an Howard Hughes Medical Investigator at Harvard University's Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.^[3]

Biography

Dulac grew up in Montpellier, France, and graduated from the École Normale Supérieure de la rue d'Ulm, Paris, and earned a Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University of Paris in 1991.^[1] She worked with Nicole Le Douarin on developmental mechanisms, and carried out her postdoc studies with Richard Axel at Columbia University where she identified the first genes encoding mammalian pheromone receptors.

Dulac joined the faculty of Harvard in 1996,^[4] and was promoted to associate professor in 2000 and full professor in 2001. She is currently an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and was the Chair of Harvard's Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology^[1] until 2013. In 2014, the role of Chair was taken over by Alex Schier.

Publications

Notable papers

• Kimchi T., Xu, J., and Dulac, C. "A Functional Circuit Underlying Male Sexual Behaviour in the Female Mouse Brain," Nature, v.448, pp. 1009–1014 (2007).
• Tietjen I, Rihel JM, Cao Y, Koentges G, Zakhary L, Dulac C. "Single-cell transcriptional analysis of neuronal progenitors.", Neuron, v.38, pp. 161–75 (2003).
• Pantages, E., and Dulac, C. "A New Family of Candidate Pheromone Receptors in Mammals," Neuron, v.28, pp. 835–845 (2000).
• Liman, E., Corey, D., and Dulac, C. "TRP2: A Candidate Transduction Channel for Mammalian Pheromone Sensory Signaling", PNAS, v.96, pp. 5791–5796 (1999).
• Belluscio, L., Koentges, G., Axel, R., and Dulac, C., "A Map of Pheromone Receptor Activation in the Mammalian Brain," Cell, v.97, pp. 209–220 (1999).
• Dulac C. and Axel R., "A Novel Family of Genes Encoding Putative Pheromone Receptors in Mammals," Cell, v.83, pp. 195–206 (1995).

Other

• Dulac, C. "Sex and the Single Splice," Cell, v.121, pp. 664–666 (2005).
• Dulac, C. and Grothe, B. "Editorial: Sensory Systems." Current Opinion in Neurobiology, v.14, pp. 403–406 (2004).
• Dulac, C. and Torello, A.T., Review, "Molecular Detection of Pheromone Signals in Mammals: From Genes to Behaviour." Nature Reviews Neuroscience, v. 4, pp. 1–13 (2003)
• Dulac, C. "The Physiology of Taste, Vintage 2000", Cell, v.100, pp. 607–610 (2000).

Awards and honors

• 1998 Searle Scholar^[1]
• 2004 Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences^[1][5]
• 2006 Richard Lounsbery Award^[1]
• 2007 Member, French Academy of Sciences^[1]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Catherine Dulac.

• Research Summary & Profile, Harvard University
• HHMI profile
• "Pheromones Control Gender Recognition in Mice", Jan. 31, 2002 (HHMI Research News)
• "Harvard Portrait: Catherine Dulac",
• "Making the Paper: Catherine Dulac", Nature, v.448 (Aug. 30, 2007).
• Catherine Dulac Seminars: "Sex and Smell: Molecular Biology of Pheromone Perception"
• Catherine Dulac Seminar: "The Molecular Biology of Smell"
• Catherine Dulac Seminar: "Gender Identification"
• Catherine Dulac Seminar: "Hard Wired Behavior"
• Catherine Dulac Seminar: "Synesthesia"