Dr. Scott E. Fraser received his BS in Physics with Honors from Harvey Mudd College in California, and joined the Biophysics Program at the Johns Hopkins University for his predoctoral and postdoctoral training. In 1980, Scott joined the faculty of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of California, Irvine and rapidly rose through the ranks to Professor. He served as Chair of the Department from 1989-91, at which time he was recruited to be the Anna L. Rosen Professor of Biology, and Director of the Biological Imaging Center, Beckman Institute, at the California Institute of Technology.
Dr. Fraser is the world's leading investigator in the application of imaging technologies to the study of early development. He has coupled innovative imaging modalities, including ionophoretic dye labeling, real time video microscopy, GFP-variant tagged reporters, 2 photon laser-scanning microscopy, and micro MRI, to study development in a wide range of experimental animal systems, ranging from zebrafish, avian and mouse. Dr. Fraser's elegant contributions have revealed new insight into the mechanisms underlying cell-specific gene activation, cell lineage determinations, morphogenetic fate of cells and tissues, and guidance of neural precursors to their appropriate targets, among many other topics pertinent to development.
Dr. Fraser has been the recipient of many awards befitting his remarkable contributions, including a McKnight Scholar Award, A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Marcus Singer Medal, as well as named lectureships at MIT, Woods Hole, and Emory.
