Constance Cepko

Constance Louise Cepko is a developmental biologist and geneticist in Harvard Medical School. She is best known for her contributions in understanding the developmental biology of vertebrate central nervous systems.^[3][4]

Connie Cepko
Born	Constance Louise Cepko Laurel, Maryland, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Maryland, College Park MIT
Scientific career
Fields	Neuroscience Developmental biology Retinas
Institutions	MIT Harvard University
Thesis	Interactions of the Adenovirus 100k and Hexon Proteins: Analysis using Monoclonal Antibodies and Temperature Sensitive Mutants (1982)
Doctoral advisor	Phillip Allen Sharp[1]
Other academic advisors	Richard Mulligan[2]
Website	genepath.med.harvard.edu/~cepko www.hhmi.org/scientists/constance-l-cepko

Education

She was born in Laurel, Maryland. She received her B.S. in biochemistry and microbiology at the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. She completed her Ph.D. at MIT in 1982 advised by Phil Sharp.^[1][5]

Career and research

As a postdoctoral research fellow with Richard C. Mulligan she studied retroviral vectors that she used to study the development of the retina. She is the former head of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences graduate program at Harvard Medical School.^[3][6]

Awards and honors

Cepko was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2002.^[3] In 2011, she received the Bressler Prize in Vision Science awarded to under-recognized scientists and clinicians in their field^[7] for her work in retina development.^[8] In 2019, she was selected by Brandeis University to give the Lisman Memorial Lecture in Vision Science.^[9]