Meet William Detrich, PhD

H. William Detrich, PhD, Professor, Marine Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Northeastern University. Principal Investigator for the United States Antarctic Program since 1984. Detrich Lab

Professor Detrich appeared on Science for the Public's Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations program on July 09, 2013: to discuss Antarctic Fishes: Models for Climate Change and Human Disease.

Dr. Detrich has spent more than twelve field seasons in Antarctica, at Palmer Station and McMurdo Station. He brings to his research a broad and deep background in biochemistry, molecular biology and genomics. His work is providing significant insights into both climate change biology and medicine. In his SftPublic presentation he described the climate in Antarctica he has witnessed over two decades.

Dr. Detrich received his PhD from Yale University. At Northeastern University, he has served as Director of the Professional Science Masters Program in Bioinformatics (2000 – 2009). He is also a Visiting Professor of Pediatrics (July, 1996 – present) at the Harvard Medical School, and Research Associate Scientist in Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children’s Hospital (July 1, 1993 – present).

A fine example of what his research has revealed is in this HHMI video, Making the Fittest: Birth and Death of Genes

2016 update: Antarctic Island Named for Northeastern Professor

This article for general readers describes how Dr. Detrich's work is shedding light on some common human diseases: The Bloodless Icefishes: Strange Fauna May Reveal Clues about Anemias, Osteoporosis and Other Diseases