Sterling Professor Emeritus of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Professor Emeritus of Cell Biology and of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University
Dr. Pollard is recognized as a pioneer of cell biology who discovered and characterized proteins that comprise the internal framework of cells called the cytoskeleton. The assembly of these protein polymers, called actin filaments, produces forces for cellular movements and defines the shape of cells. Actin filaments also interact with motor proteins to produce forces for other motions.
Dr. Pollard has been devoted to understanding cell motility driven by actin filaments and myosin motors of the “cytoskeleton.” His research, combining biophysics, biochemistry, quantitative microscopy, and mathematical modeling, explains how the assembly of branched actin filaments produces forces for cellular movements and how myosin motors interact with actin filaments to produce force to divide cells during cytokinesis. He has also been a tireless advocate for funding biomedical research and for wise policies that impact science at both the state and national levels, serving on advisory panels for national organizations and government agencies.
“Connecticut is home to some of the nation’s leading scientists who are pushing the envelope and creating revolutionary discoveries that are having a global impact,” Governor Ned Lamont said. “The scientific community in Connecticut has a passion for innovation that our state celebrates and encourages. I congratulate Dr. Pollard on receiving Connecticut’s highest honor for scientific achievement. Most importantly, his work is revolutionizing advancements that are being used to develop the breakthroughs that will shape medicine and medical treatments for decades to come.”
Dr. Pollard earned a BA in Chemistry from Pomona College, followed by an MD from Harvard Medical School. He joined the Yale faculty in 2001 and was awarded a Sterling Professorship, the highest academic honor professors receive at the University. Pollard’s leadership responsibilities at Yale included Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from 2010 to 2014, and Director of the Institute for Physics, Engineering, and Biology from 2018 to 2021. After retiring from Yale, Pollard was appointed as Visiting Professor, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley.
He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), US National Academy of Medicine, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Biophysical Society, American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), and Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. Pollard has received multiple prestigious awards over the course of his career, including the Rosenstiel Award from Brandeis University, the Public Service Awards from the Biophysical Society and ASCB, the ASCB E.B. Wilson Medal, the Gairdner International Award in Biomedical Sciences, and the NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing.
Dr. Pollard and his wife, Patty Pollard, past president of the Yale University Women’s Organization and the Maryland League of Women Voters and cofounder of the Maryland Education Coalition, reside in Berkeley, CA. Their children, Katie and Dan, are both professors in biological sciences. For more, see Dr. Pollard’s Yale profile.
Dr. Pollard was elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering in 2004.