James E. Rothman, Ph.D.

Dr. Rothman is chair of Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Cell Biology. Previously, he was the Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of Chemical Biology and Director of Columbia University’s Judith P. Sulzberger, M.D. Genome Center. From 2004 until 2007, Dr. Rothman served as Chief Science Advisor of GE Healthcare. He is renowned for discovering the molecular machinery responsible for the transfer of materials among compartments within cells. Prior to joining Columbia University in 2004, Dr. Rothman held Professorships at Stanford University from 1978 to 1988 and Princeton University from 1988 to 1991. In 1991, he founded the Cellular Biochemistry and Biophysics Department at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and was Vice-Chairman of Sloan-Kettering in New York City from 1991 to 2004. Dr. Rothman’s pioneering research in cell biology has been recognized by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1993. He has also received numerous international awards, including the Lasker Award in 2002.