Our Department at Washington University School of Medicine has been among the top cell biology and physiology programs in the country for over a century.
Our faculty have included two Nobel laureates; the creator and master of quick-freeze deep-etch electron microscopy, who made it possible to see the inner workings of cells; and internationally recognized investigators studying the structure and function of cells, signaling within cells and communication between cells, the organization of cells into tissues and tissues into organs, and the molecular bases of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart and neurological disorders.
We have been fortunate to play a leadership role in the advancement of women faculty, two of whom were recruited to chair departments at Vanderbilt and Cornell; in addition, eight other faculty have gone on to become chairmen at institutions such as Boston, Duke, Penn, Maryland, Rush and Texas. Five current faculty are Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one faculty member was elected to both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, and one faculty member was recently elected “Fellow of the Royal Society”. Our faculty have also received numerous awards for excellence in teaching and mentoring.
A word from our Chair
David Piston, PhD
Welcome to the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at Washington University in St. Louis. For more than a century, our department has led the basic science research that has been the foundation for one of the elite medical schools in the country.
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