Principal Investigator

Principal Investigator
Silverman Professor of Natural Sciences
Program in Molecular Medicine

victor.ambros@umassmed.edu
(508) 856-5723

Ambros CV

Victor Ambros earned his undergraduate degree in 1975, his doctorate in 1979 and completed his postdoctoral fellowship in 1983, all at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During graduate school, he worked with David Baltimore, PhD, a co-recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries related to the interaction between tumor viruses and genetic material of the cell. In Dr. Baltimore’s lab, Ambros studied the poliovirus genome structure and replication. Ambros then conducted his postdoctoral research in the lab of H. Robert Horvitz, who shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research related to genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death. Ambros’ research in Dr. Horvitz’s lab focused on genetic pathways that directed the developmental timing in C. elegans. After Ambros completed his fellowship, he continued his research as a faculty member at Harvard University (1984-1992), Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Medical School (1992-2008), and the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (2008-present).

Ambros was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2007 and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2011. He has received numerous honors for his scientific achievements including the Lasker Award and the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 2008; the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research in 2012; the Keio Medical Science Award in 2013; the Wolf Prize, Gruber Genetics Prize and Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (shared) in 2014; and the Prize in Developmental Biology from the March of Dimes (shared) in 2016. Ambros was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his co-discovery of microRNA, short single-stranded RNA molecules that are now understood to play critical roles in post-transcriptional gene regulation. 

In 2008, H. Scott Silverman and his father Jeffrey L. Silverman endowed the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School to honor Ambros. The endowment symbolizes the Silvermans’ enthusiasm for Ambros’ work and comes from a longtime friendship formed in 1997 when the younger Silverman completed his honors research thesis under Ambros’ guidance at Dartmouth College.