An interview with Dr Marisa Bartolomei

Abstract

Marisa Bartolomei is a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and codirector of Epigenetics Institute at the University at Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. As a postdoctoral fellow in Dr Shirley Tilghman’s lab, she identified one of the first imprinted genes, H19, and fell in love with genomic imprinting. She remained faithful and contributed to this relationship by unveiling many of its secrets, and specifically elucidating the mechanisms governing expression of imprinted/epigenetic genes, how their regulation is altered by assisted reproduction technologies (ART) and adverse environmental insults, and what role epigenetic regulation plays in embryos. Dr Bartolomei is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Society for Women’s Health Research Medtronics Prize for Contributions to Women’s Health and the Jane Glick Graduate School Teaching Award at University of Pennsylvania. She was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014 and as a Member-At-Large of the Section on Biological Sciences for AAAS (2016–2020 term). She is also a recipient of the 2017 Genetics Society Medal from the UK Genetics Society. She has served on numerous editorial boards and grant review panels. We asked Dr Bartolomei to reflect about her life as a scientist and her life-long romantic relationship with genomic imprinting.