Igor B. Dawid

Igor Bert Dawid (February 26, 1935 – February 13, 2024) was a developmental biologist who specialized in molecular mechanisms of embryogenesis. His work provided some of the first molecular evidence for the maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA, although the focus of his work was intercellular communication and transcriptional regulation in the context of the control of cell differentiation and pattern formation in the vertebrate embryo. Dawid was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1981 and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected in 1989).

Early life and education Dawid was born February 26, 1935 in Chernivtsi (now Ukraine). His childhood was shaped by his experiences in World War II, as he was a survivor of the Holocaust; his father was Jewish, and he and his family avoided capture by the Nazis on several occasions. He continued his studies of biochemistry in postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dawid was recruited to the National Cancer Institute in 1978, and in 1982 he joined the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He was subsequently promoted to both head of the Section on Developmental Biology (1982–2016) and Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics (1982–2010). He continued to perform research until retirement in 2016, becoming Scientist Emeritus after retirement.

Dawid's work demonstrated that extra DNA in amphibian eggs is mitochondrial DNA of maternal origin. The approach of 'subtracting' cDNA libraries was thereafter used to identify low- and moderate-abundance RNAs. Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow (1992), American Academy of Microbiology Corresponding member, Austrian Academy of Science Distinguished Service Award, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Editorial and professional service Editor-in-Chief, Developmental Biology (1975–1980) Editor-in-Chief, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Chair of the Board, PNAS

Personal life Dawid was married to Keiko Ozato, an immunologist at NICHD.