Marla Sokolowski

Marla B. Sokolowski FRSC is a University Professor in the Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto.[1] Sokolowski is an award-winning and internationally-renowned scientist whose work is widely considered to be groundbreaking, foundational for a variety of fields, and instrumental in refutations of genetic determinism, and has, according to the Royal Society of Canada, "permanently changed the way we frame questions about individual differences in behaviour".[2] Sokolowski's comprehensive study of the fruit fly and other animal systems, including humans, has shaped fundamental concepts in behavioural evolution, plasticity, and genetic pleiotropy.[2] Specifically, Sokolowski is best known for her discovery of the foraging gene.[1][3] Sokolowski was the 2020 recipient of the Flavelle Medal. Sokolowski is only one of two women to ever win the award- the other being Margaret Newton in 1948.[4]

Marla Sokolowski
Born (1955-07-20) July 20, 1955
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Other namesMarla Sokolowski
OccupationBehavioral Geneticist
Years active1981-present
Known fordiscovery of the foraging gene
TitleUniversity Professor
Children2
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Toronto
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
ThesisEvolution of Behavioural Strategies in Drosophila: genetic analyses (1980)
Academic work
Discipline
Main interests
  • behaviour genetics
  • drosophila neurogenetics
  • gene by environment interactions
  • genomics
  • molecular
Websitehttps://sokolowski.eeb.utoronto.ca/

Personal life

Marla Sokolowski was born in Toronto in 1955 to Ruth and Ernest Berger- the latter of which was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Canada where he worked as a shoe salesman.[5][6] Sokolowski is married to Allen Sokolowski, who worked as a dentist and taught at the University of Toronto's School of Dentistry. They have two children: one daughter (born 1991) and one son (born 1995).[7][8][9]

Academic career

Research

Sokolowski completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in Zoology in 1977. Sokolowski's early research into evolutionary biology was influenced by Richard Lewontin and Douglas Wahlsten. At the time, very few scientists believed that it was possible for genes to influence normal individual differences in behaviours. This set the stage for Sokolowski's 1980 Ph.D thesis and subsequent research into behavioral genetics.[8]

Sokolowski's research has definitively demonstrated how genes interact with the environment, and thus have an impact on behaviour.[10][11][3] She has pioneered the development of a branch of behaviour genetics that addresses the genetic and molecular bases of natural individual differences in behaviour.[12][10] This is demonstrated most clearly in her discovery of the foraging(for) gene.

By mapping the movement patterns of Drosophila, she discovered a single gene that influenced the style of foraging that they used. Sokolowski's subsequent cloning of this gene, which she named foraging (for), was the first ever molecular characterization of a gene which regulates normal individual differences in a behaviour.[13] This gene has since been studied in many other animals, including humans.[8] Sokolowski demonstrated that the for gene can be influenced by the environment of the individual: this means that the style of foraging is dependent on the life that the individual has lived.[14]

Sokolowski has applied her work to early childhood development,[15][16] demonstrating how children who are at risk can benefit from nutritional, financial, educational and emotional interventions.[17]

Awards and Honours

Fellowships

Awards

Positions
  • Director of the Life Sciences Division of the Academy of Sciences of the Royal Society of Canada (2009-2012)[25][27]
  • Co-Director of the Child and Brain Development Program, CIFAR (2008-2019)[28]
  • Co-Director of the Experience Based Brain and Biological Development, CIFAR
  • Inaugural Academic Director of the Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development at University of Toronto (2012) [29][30][31]
  • Member of the Advisory Committee for The Science of Early Child Development[32]
  • Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Genes and Behaviour Conference (2008)[33]

Publications

Sokolowski has published over 200 scientific papers, has numerous contributions to books, and several editorials in news papers.

References
  1. "Marla Sokolowski, University of Toronto – Fruit Flies and Obesity". academicminute.org. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  2. "RSC Awards" (PDF). RSC. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  3. "Understanding science affects policy-making". Arts & Science News. 2014-06-02. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  4. "Sokolowski wins Flavelle Medal". UToronto. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  5. "Ernest Berger". Legacy. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  6. "Q&A Marla Sokolowski" (PDF). Current Biology Journal. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  7. "2014 CV" (PDF). UToronto. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  8. "Canada Bio Interview" (PDF). CanBio. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  9. "Marla Interview". IANAS. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  10. "Bio". CIFAR. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  11. "University of Toronto study demonstrates impact of adversity on early life development | Canadian Association for Neuroscience". Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  12. "150: Dr. Marla Sokolowski: Fruitful Research on Gene Environment Interplay in Feeding Behavior of Fruit Flies". People Behind the Science Podcast. 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  13. "What Makes Fruit Flies Roam?". ScienceMag. Science Magazine. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  14. "Behavioral Genomics". SciTable. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  15. "Why the first 2,000 days of a child's life are the most important". The Globe and Mail. September 17, 2012. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  16. "How poverty influences a child's brain development". The Globe and Mail. January 25, 2013. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  17. "How childhood experience gets under our skin". The Globe and Mail. February 6, 2014. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  18. "Marla B. Sokolowski". CIFAR. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  19. "CIFAR welcomes new fellows". CIFAR. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  20. "Marla Sokolowski". U of T Department of Cell and system biology. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  21. "All Medals RSC". RSC. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  22. "Marla Sokolowski Wins Distinguished Investigator Award". U of T News. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  23. "Canadian Science Publishing Senior Investigator Award". Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  24. "The Genetics Society of Canada". McMaster Archive. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  25. "Marla B. Sokolowski". Academic Minute. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  26. "Young Scientist Award". Genetics Society of Canada. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  27. "Marla Sokolowski". Expert File. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  28. "Nature vs Nurture Q and A with Marla Sokolowski". CIFAR. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  29. "Organization of Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development". OISE. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  30. "Fraser Mud Institute for Human Development". ISSUU. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  31. "Fraser Mustard's vision for kids lives on". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  32. "SECD Advisory Committee". SECD. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  33. "Conference History". Gordon Research Conference. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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