Women in Science and Engineering at Yale (2020 Edition)

Vivian Irish, Ph.D.

Daniel C. Eaton Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Chair of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Vivian Irish’s research focuses on the genetic and molecular mechanisms involved in the development of the Arabidopsis flower, as well as how conserved or diversified these mechanisms are in other flowering plant species. She explores the genetic control of petal growth and petal cell type differentiation in Arabidopsis, and investigates stem cell biology and gene editing to better understand plant growth. She also has a more applied focus to her research, developing approaches to control bacterial infection of citrus crops. She combines transcriptomics, molecular genetics, and transgenic approaches to perform this research, has received research funding from multiple government agencies, has been awarded fellowships, and has served as President of the Society for Developmental Biology. She is currently the Chair of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology.