Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Phillip Newmark is among seven university faculty named a University Scholar.
Begun in 1985, the scholars program recognizes faculty excellence on the three U. of I campuses and provides $10,000 to each scholar for each of three years to use to enhance his or her academic career. The money may be used for travel, equipment, research assistants, books or other purposes.
Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Phillip Newmark recognized that his discipline’s next frontier would be in the biology of tissue and organ regeneration. He now is recognized as one of the foremost proponents of reviving the use of planaria as a new model organism ideally suited for molecular and genetic analysis of regeneration. Today, a growing number of scientists use the planarian system in their research. He has applied his planarian system to several key problems in regeneration biology, including stem-cell differentiation, and germ-cell specification and differentiation. An increasing number of scientists now are using the planarian system in their work, attesting to the impact of Newmark’s work.