Dr. Jurrien Dean was an undergraduate and medical student at Columbia University in New York City. After clinical training in Internal Medicine and Medical Genetics, he was a research associate at the NIH prior to establishing an independent research group. He is currently the Chief of the Laboratory of Cellular and Developmental Biology in NIDDK.
Terminally differentiated gametes are transcriptionally quiescent at fertilization and the activation of the early embryonic genome is heavily dependent on stored maternal proteins. For three and a half decades Dr. Dean has investigated this biological treasure trove in mice to gain insight into the molecular basis of gametogenesis, fertilization and pre-implantation development. Using a wide-range of molecular biology, sophisticated imaging, and mouse genetics, the Dean lab has investigated molecular mechanisms that ensure successful spermatogenesis and folliculogenesis. The lab has shaped a reappraisal of the molecular basis of gamete recognition that ensures monospermic fertilization and has investigated maternal effect genes required for pre-implantation development. These studies, carried out in mice, are directly applicable to human developmental biology and medicine.
