2002 Finalist Lisa Stowers

Lisa Stowers, for her essay, "How Mice Detect and Respond to Pheromones," based on work done in Dr. Catherine Dulac's laboratory at Harvard University. Dr. Stowers was born in Petaluma, California, and received a B.A. in bacteriology from the University of California at Davis. In 1997 she was awarded a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from Harvard University for work in Dr. John Chant's laboratory characterizing signal transduction components of mammalian cell polarity. As a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Dulac, she used a molecular genetic approach to study the neurobiology of mouse behavior. This work identified the sensory neurons that respond to pheromones and illuminated the influence of the chemical environment on both the social behavior and the neuroendocrine response of the mouse. She is currently continuing this work as an assistant professor of cell biology at The Scripps Research Institute.