Tabin Appointed Genetics Chair

Clifford Tabin, HMS professor of genetics, was selected as the next chair of the Department of Genetics, taking over from Philip Leder on January 1.

Photo by Graham Ramsay Clifford Tabin

Tabin has been on the HMS faculty since 1989. Examining the genetic mechanisms that control the developing embryo, his lab has made major discoveries relating to how genes determine the organization of the early embryo and how they orchestrate the formation of various organs and structures in the body. Using a combination of modern gene transfer techniques and classical experimental grafting approaches, his lab has addressed issues such as why the heart forms on the left and not the right, why the thumb is different from the little finger, and how the skeleton is organized. Tabin and colleagues are also studying the evolutionary development and genetic basis for the variations seen within a single species or among closely related species, such as the different beak shapes and sizes of Darwin’s finches.

Robert Kingston, HMS professor of genetics and chair of the Molecular Biology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital, will serve as vice chair of the department. Kingston has played a leading role in the study of the way chromosomal proteins control and maintain stable patterns of gene activity.

Leder, the John Emory Andrus professor of genetics at HMS, founded the department in 1980. He has been involved in many important discoveries and advancements in genetics, including seminal work in the understanding of RNA. Leder also has won some of science’s top honors, including a Lasker Award and a National Medal of Science.

Tabin acknowledged Leder’s role in the success of the Department of Genetics, saying, “Phil Leder has established one of the greatest basic life science departments in the world. I am very proud to have the opportunity to lead the department and hope to be able to maintain the high quality and extremely supportive environment Phil has created.”

In his new role, Tabin, along with Kingston and HMS dean Joseph Martin, will form an advisory committee on human genetics, which will address the future of genetics across the University and strengthen collaborations between the Department of Genetics and other departments and institutions like the Broad Institute and the HMS/Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics.

“I look forward to working with the other preclinical chairs and the chairs of related clinical departments to forge greater integration in our community as a whole and among genetic scientists in particular,” Tabin said.

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