Dr. Margaret Gardel (Cancer Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology) has been elected to join the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Gardel is the Horace B. Horton Professor of Physics, Molecular Engineering and Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology. She is director of the James Franck Institute and the Center for Living Systems, a National Sciences Foundation Physics Frontier Center. She is a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator and a member of the Institute of Biophysical Dynamics.
Her research focuses on how collections of biological molecules build soft materials that enable cell and tissue-scale physiological processes of adhesion, migration and shape change.
Her awards include the Tel Aviv University International Prize in Biophysics, as well as the Packard Fellowship, Sloan Fellowship and the NIH Pioneer Award. She is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society.