Rate My Professor Seth Blair

Seth Blair is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also serves as Faculty Director for introductory biology courses 151/3-152 and 151 Lecturer. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1982, followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Washington and Harvard Medical School. Blair is a trainer in the Genetics PhD Program, Neuroscience Training Program, and Zoology graduate program. His research centers on the developmental genetics of patterning and cell signaling in Drosophila melanogaster, focusing on imaginal and gonadal precursors that form wings, the male reproductive tract, and testes. His lab analyzes mutants disrupting pattern formation and intercellular signaling, identifying novel regulators of Hedgehog and BMP pathways. A major emphasis is on the protocadherin-mediated signaling pathway involving Dachsous and Fat, which regulates organ growth through the Hippo pathway, proximodistal patterning, and planar cell polarity in Drosophila epithelia. These in vivo molecular genetic studies are complemented by biochemical analyses of protein binding and modifications using Drosophila cell culture. Blair's work elucidates molecular patterning mechanisms shared across developing animals.