William McGinnis

William McGinnis is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology within the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. He earned his B.S. degree in biology from San Jose State University in 1978 and his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1982. Following a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Basel in Switzerland, he joined the faculty at Yale University, where he served from 1984 to 1995 as a professor of biology and professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry. In 1995, McGinnis moved to UC San Diego, advancing through faculty ranks and taking on leadership roles, including interim dean of the Division of Biological Sciences from 2000 to 2001 and again in 2012 to 2013, followed by his appointment as dean from 2013 until June 2018. His distinguished career is marked by numerous honors, including the Vietnam Service Award, Searle Scholar Award, Presidential Young Investigator Award, Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010, and membership in the National Academy of Sciences elected in 2019.

McGinnis's research in developmental biology centers on genetic mechanisms controlling tissue development and regeneration in animal embryos, with a focus on Hox gene regulation in Drosophila. In 1983 and 1984, he co-discovered homeobox genes and demonstrated their conservation across metazoans, from fruit flies to humans, fundamentally shaping understanding of axial patterning and body plan evolution. His laboratory investigates distant Hox enhancer-promoter interactions, miRNA effects on Hox targets, and evolutionarily conserved pathways for epidermal barrier regeneration after wounding, including the Toll signaling pathway and serine proteolytic cascades. Key publications include 'A conserved DNA sequence in homeotic genes of the Drosophila Antennapedia and bithorax complexes' (Nature, 1984), 'Homeobox genes and axial patterning' (Cell, 1992), 'Modulating Hox gene functions during animal body patterning' (Nature Reviews Genetics, 2005), 'Toll pathway is required for wound-induced expression of barrier repair genes in the Drosophila epidermis' (PNAS, 2017), and 'A blueprint most wonderful, the homeobox discovery' (Development, 2024). These works have profoundly influenced fields of developmental genetics, evolutionary biology, and regenerative medicine.

Professional Email: wmcginnis@ucsd.edu