Claudio Daniel Stern (born 9 February 1954 in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

) is a British-Uruguayan biologist currently working at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(UCL).

Education

Stern received his primary (Escuela Evaristo Ciganda) and secondary (Liceo Suarez and Lycée Français) education in Montevideo, Uruguay, and started to study Medicine in 1971. In 1972 he moved to the United Kingdom and took a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

, where he remained for his PhD (1978), under the supervision of

Brian Goodwin Brian Carey Goodwin (25 March 1931 – 15 July 2009) (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada - Dartington, Totnes, Devon, UK) was a Canadian mathematician and biologist, a Professor Emeritus at the Open University and a founder of theoretica ...

. He then moved to the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at

for postdoctoral training with Ruth Bellairs, a noted embryologist.

Career

Following his postdoctoral training, Stern held a University Demonstrator-ship in Anatomy at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

(1984–85) before being appointed Lecturer in the Department of Human Anatomy at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and Student (College Fellow) of Christ Church (1985-1994). In 1994 he was recruited as Chairman of the Department of Genetics and Development at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York. He returned to the UK in 2001 as the " J Z Young" Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology back at University College London. Among many activities he is currently a member of Scientific Council of

Institut Pasteur The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. T ...

in Paris (since 2012) and was President of the

International Society of Developmental Biologists The International Society of Developmental Biologists (ISDB), formerly the Institut Internationale d'Embryologie (IIE), is a non-profit scientific association promoting developmental biology. The society holds an international Congress every four y ...

(ISDB) from January 2010 to December 2013. Stern's research is on the processes that establish cell diversity and pattern at early stages of development in vertebrate embryos.

Honours

Stern was awarded a Doctor of Science (DSc) in Physiological Sciences from the University of Oxford (1993) and has been elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology Fellowship of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), previously Fellowship of the Society of Biology (FSB), is an award and fellowship granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Biology has adjudged to have made a "prominent contribution to t ...

(FRSB) (2008), of the Academy of Medical Sciences ( FMedSci) (2001), of the Royal Society ( FRS) (2008), a member of

EMBO Embo or EMBO may refer to: *Embo, Taguig, a grouping of barangays in Taguig, Philippines * Embo (''Star Wars''), a ''Star Wars'' fictional character *Embo S.p.A., an Italian automotive manufacturer *Embo, Sutherland, a village in Highland, Scotland ...

(2002) and of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

(2013), and Foreign Member (Miembro Correspondiente) of the Latin-American Academy of Sciences] (ACAL) (2002) and Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

(AAAS). In 2006 he was awarded the

Waddington Medal The British Society for Developmental Biology (BSDB) is a scientific society promoting developmental biology research; it is open to anyone with an interest in the subject who agrees with the principles of the Society. History The British Society f ...

of the British Society for Developmental Biology. In 2023 he was elected as a Foreign Member ("miembro correspondiente") of th
National Academy of Sciences of Uruguay (ANCIU)
He has also given numerous plenary, keynote and named lectures at international meetings. He was awarded the

Ross Harrison Prize The International Society of Developmental Biologists (ISDB), formerly the Institut Internationale d'Embryologie (IIE), is a non-profit scientific association promoting developmental biology. The society holds an international Congress every four y ...

for 2017 by the

Publications

Stern has published about 200 scientific articles and several books including an important comprehensive book about gastrulation, "Gastrulation: from cells to embryo" (2004) and the widely used laboratory manual "Essential Developmental Biology: a practical approach" (with Peter W. H. Holland, 1993).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Claudio Daniel 1954 births Living people Academics of University College London Academics of the University of Cambridge Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of Sussex Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Scientists from Montevideo Uruguayan biologists Uruguayan emigrants to the United Kingdom Uruguayan expatriates in England