UO biologist Charles (Chuck) Kimmel, a pioneer in using zebrafish to study developmental mechanisms, has been elected into the National Academy of Sciences.

A professor emeritus and member of the UO’s Institute of Neuroscience, Kimmel’s work has encompassed cell lineage specification, gastrulation, hindbrain segmentation, and craniofacial patterning and evolution. Kimmel helped advance the use of zebrafish as a model organism, beginning with his first fish paper on the Mauthner neuron in 1981. Kimmel invented cell lineage tracing methods for zebrafish which have become widely adopted. He has been recognized by his peers as one of the leading developmental biologists working with any organism, having been elected President of the Society for Developmental Biology in 1993 and awarded the Conkin Medal for lifetime achievement in Developmental Biology in 2000.