Davor Solter (born March 22, 1941) is a Yugoslavian-born

developmental biologist Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of Regeneration (biology), regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and di ...

, particularly known for his pioneering work on mammalian

genomic imprinting Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon that causes genes to be expressed or not, depending on whether they are inherited from the female or male parent. Genes can also be partially imprinted. Partial imprinting occurs when alleles from b ...

. He is Emeritus Member and Director,

Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics The Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics (German language, German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Immunbiologie und Epigenetik'') in Freiburg im Breisgau, Freiburg, Germany is an interdisciplinary research institute that conducts bas ...

; Visiting International Professor, Siriraj Center for Excellence in Stem Cell Research,

Mahidol University Mahidol University is an autonomous university, autonomous public university, public research university in Thailand. The university was founded as part of Siriraj Hospital in 1888. It was first called the University of Medical Science in 1943, ...

, Thailand; and Visiting Professor,

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

Medical School.

Education and career

Solter was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Yugoslavia, in 1941. His M.D. (1965) and Ph.D. (1971) degrees are from the

, where he worked in the Departments of Anatomy and Biology of the School of Medicine (1963–73). He then moved to the United States, where he worked at the

Wistar Institute The Wistar Institute () is an independent, nonprofit research institution in biomedical science with special focuses in oncology, immunology, infectious disease, and vaccine research. Located on Spruce Street in the University City section of P ...

, Philadelphia, PA, rising to full professor in 1981. He joined the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1982, becoming the Wistar Professor of Biology in 1984. He directed the

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, Germany, from 1991 to 2006. In 2008 he moved to Singapore, where worked at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

(in association with

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

; 2008–13) and also served as research director of the Institute of Medical Biology,

A*STAR The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore. The agency supports R&D that is aligned to areas of competitive advantage and national needs for Singapore ...

. In 2014 he moved to Thailand, where as of 2018 he holds a visiting professorship at

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Awards

In 2018, he was a recipient of the

Canada Gairdner International Award The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a ...

, with Azim Surani, "For the discovery of mammalian genomic imprinting that causes parent-of-origin specific gene expression and its consequences for development and disease." He won the

Rosenstiel Award The Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research is awarded by Brandeis University. It was established in 1971 "as an expression of the conviction that educational institutions have an important role to play in the en ...

in 2006, with Surani and

Mary Lyon Mary Mason Lyon (; February 28, 1797 – March 5, 1849) was an American pioneer in women's education. She established the Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts, (now Wheaton College) in 1834. She then established Mount Holyoke Fem ...

, for "pioneering work on epigenetic gene regulation in mammalian embryos". Other awards include the

March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology The March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology is awarded once a year by the March of Dimes. The Prize honors outstanding scientists who profoundly advance the science that underlies our understanding of pregnancy, parturition, and Prenatal dev ...

(1998) "For pioneering the concept of gene imprinting". He is an elected or honorary member 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 ...

(1992),

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

(1994),

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 ...

(1994) and the Japanese Biochemical Society (1995).

Key papers

*McGrath J, Solter D. (1984). Completion of mouse embryogenesis requires both the maternal and paternal genomes. ''

Cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

'' 37: 179–83.

Education and career

Awards

Key papers

References

Further reading