Catherine Dulac

Catherine Dulac is the Xander University Professor and Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University, as well as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator since 1997. A prominent biologist, she graduated from the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and received her PhD in 1991 from the University Pierre et Marie Curie at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Embryology in Nogent-sur-Marne. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University, she joined Harvard University as a junior faculty member in 1996, becoming a professor of molecular and cellular biology in 2001. She served as chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology from 2007 to 2013 and has held additional distinguished titles, including the Lee and Ezpeleta Professor of Arts and Sciences since 2018 and the Samuel W. Morris University Professor prior to her appointment as Xander University Professor in 2025.

Dulac's research employs molecular, genetic, electrophysiological, and optical techniques to elucidate the molecular, neuronal, and circuit basis of instinctive social behaviors in mice, including the sensory signals that trigger aggression, mating, parental care, social recognition, and defensive behaviors. Her lab has identified key brain circuits, such as those in the vomeronasal system and hypothalamus, governing these functions and demonstrated that male- and female-specific behavioral circuits coexist in both sexes, challenging long-held dogmas. Pioneering discoveries include the first family of mammalian pheromone receptors (Dulac and Axel, Cell, 1995), galanin neurons in the medial preoptic area that control parental behavior (Wu et al., Nature, 2014), functional architectures underlying parenting (Kohl et al., Nature, 2018), molecular profiling of the hypothalamic preoptic region (Moffitt et al., Science, 2018), circuits for infant-directed neglect and aggression (Autry et al., eLife, 2021), and preoptic neurons regulating fever and appetite during sickness (Osterhout et al., Nature, 2022). She has also advanced understanding of genomic imprinting in the developing and adult brain. Dulac's transformative contributions have reshaped neuroscience and behavioral biology. Her honors include the 2021 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Officer of the Legion d'Honneur (2024), Richard Lounsbery Award (2006), Perl/UNC Neuroscience Prize (2010), Ralph W. Gerard Prize (2019), and election to the National Academy of Sciences (2015), American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and French Academy of Sciences. She co-chaired the NIH BRAIN Initiative Working Group 2.0.

Professional Email: dulac@fas.harvard.edu