March of Dimes awards developmental biology prize to Dr. Patricia Hunt

March of Dimes has awarded Dr. Patricia Hunt its 2022 Richard B. Johnston Jr. MD Prize in Developmental Biology.

This annual award honors an outstanding scientist who has advanced the science that underlies our understanding of pregnancy, birth and prenatal development. Dr. Hunt is a Regents Professor at Washington State University who made instrumental discoveries in how prenatal development is impacted by aging, mistakes in cell division, and environmental exposures.

The prize carries a $150,000 award and is part of March of Dimes’ research strategy to address the multi-faceted nature of the maternal and child health crisis. March of Dimes noted that six prize recipients later won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

“Dr. Hunt has significantly advanced the field of developmental biology over the course of her career and we congratulate her on this well-deserved honor,” said Dr. Emre Seli, chief scientific Officer at March of Dimes. “She’s credited with providing insight into the complexity of parental age and its effect on prenatal development and was the first to suggest an age-related loss of cohesion as a driving factor. Her lifetime research commitment is already having an impact and will affect the health of future generations.”

Dr. Hunt earned her BS in Genetics from Michigan State University and MS and PhD in Reproductive Biology from the University of Hawaii. She completed postdoctoral training at the MRC Mammalian Development Unit and at the Jackson Laboratory. She began her tenure track faculty position in 1998 at Emory University before moving to Case Western Reserve University, where she became full professor and chairwoman of the genetics department. She later moved to Washington State University.