SC Connecticut News

Valerie Reinke, a geneticist whose research explores gene regulation in germ cells, was recently appointed the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Genetics. The appointment, which was approved retroactive to April 9, 2024, is for a term of 10 years, renewable by the dean of the Yale School of Medicine (YSM).

She is also chair of the Department of Genetics at YSM.

Reinke received a B.S. in genetics at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and then earned her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center, where she studied the mechanisms of tumor suppression. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, she joined the faculty of Yale School of Medicine in 2000 as an assistant professor of genetics. In April 2024 she was named chair of the Department of Genetics after serving as vice-chair for six years and, since last July, as interim chair.

During her career, Reinke’s lab has advanced genomic technologies to discover novel and fundamental gene regulatory mechanisms that direct germ cell function, organization, and development to understand how genome organization and composition influence complex tissue-specific regulatory programs using the model organism C. elegans. In addition, she has long been a leader in multiple genome consortia focused on comprehensive identification of functional sequence elements to define global gene regulatory networks in both C. elegans and Drosophila.

Inside and beyond the lab, she has also demonstrated a commitment to training and mentorship. She is co-director of the Training Program in Genetics and for 10 years was co-director of the Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics, and Development track in the Yale Biological and Biomedical Sciences graduate program.