Lucy Shapiro

Lucy Shapiro (born July 16, 1940, New York City) is an American developmental biologist. She is a professor of Developmental Biology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She is the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research and the director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine.

Shapiro founded a new field in developmental biology, using microorganisms to examine fundamental questions in developmental biology. Her work has furthered understanding of the basis of stem cell function and the generation of biological diversity. for "her pioneering discovery that the bacterial cell is controlled by an integrated genetic circuit functioning in time and space that serves as a systems engineering paradigm underlying cell differentiation and ultimately the generation of diversity in all organisms."

Early life and education Lucy Shapiro was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the eldest of three daughters. Her mother was an elementary school teacher and her father, a Ukrainian immigrant. She attended New York City's High School of Music and Arts with a major in Fine Arts.

Shapiro enrolled in Brooklyn College with a double major in Fine Arts and Biology and the intention of becoming a medical illustrator. As part of an experimental honors program she was able to design her own curriculum. With the encouragement of Theodore Shedlovsky, She received her A.B. in Fine Arts and Biology from Brooklyn College in 1962. Shapiro was given the task of looking for RNA-dependent RNA polymerase using F2 RNA phage from Norton Zinder. She was successful in detecting the activity of an enzyme copying RNA. In 1963 Shapiro became a graduate student at NYU with Tom August as her advisor. The department subsequently joined the newly created department of molecular biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Shapiro also attended summer courses at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) on Long Island.

Shapiro has published reflections on her early days in Brooklyn and on her life in science in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and in the Annual Review of Genetics. and in 1981, director of Einstein's division of biological sciences. In 1983, she was named to the Lola and Saul Kramer Endowed Chair in Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYC.

From 1986–1989, Shapiro served as the Higgins Professor and Chair of Microbiology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. In 2001 Shapiro became the director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. 2000–2006: Director, Glaxo Smith Kline 2002: Founded Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. with Dr. Stephen Benkovic, Penn State University, and Dr. Harley McAdams, Stanford University School of Medicine. 2002: Director, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2012: Director, Pacific BioSciences, Inc. 2015: Founded Boragen, LLC with Stephen Benkovic, Gerry Fink and Paul Schimmel 2021: Director, 5Metis, Inc. Shapiro wanted to go beyond test-tube studies of extracted cell contents, and examine the three-dimensional structure and behavior of actual living cells. The process of the Caulobacter cell cycle also show similarities to stem cell division, in which two distinct cells arise, one of which differs from the parent cell while the other does not. Genome-based computational modelling, in particular, the examination of regulatory networks, is becoming increasingly important to systems biology. Examining the cell cycle control logic of Caulobacter as a state machine leads to understanding of bacterial cell cycle regulation as a whole cell phenomenon.

Biotechnology In 2002, Shapiro founded Anacor Pharmaceuticals with physicist and developmental biologist Harley McAdams and chemist Stephen Benkovic of Pennsylvania State University. There are a number of issues that make infectious diseases a particularly significant concern. One issue is the development of antibiotic-resistant microbes, which have been emerging as a result of over-use of antibiotics since the 1950s. Shapiro is involved in development of drugs that will attack both a particular bacteria and its mechanisms of drug resistance, to prevent drug-resistant strains from developing. Another concern is the introduction of bacteria into previously unexposed populations, due to increased travel, population expansion into previously unexplored areas, and climate change. To address either naturally occurring or intentionally developed biological threats, it is essential to understand the mechanisms involved internally in cells and in populations of cells in their environments. Shapiro emphasizes the importance of understanding the complexity of living systems, and the need to be aware that interventions may have unexpected consequences.

Awards and honors

2025: Lasker–Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science 2023: Linus Pauling Medal 2020: Doctorate of Science, Honoris Causa, Rockefeller University. 2020: Dickson Prize in Science. 2017: Chan Zuckerberg Biohub investigator. 2017: Alumna of the Year, Brooklyn College 2014: Pearl Meister Greengard Prize 2013: ASCB Women in Cell Biology Lifetime Achievement Award, American Society for Cell Biology 2012: Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, with Richard Losick & Joe Lutkenhaus 2012: Dean's Medal, Stanford University School of Medicine 2011: National Medal of Science 2010: Abbott Lifetime Achievement Award, American Society for Microbiology 2009: Canada Gairdner International Award with Richard Losick 2009: John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, with Harley McAdams 2003: Elected to the American Philosophical Society 1994: National Academy of Sciences 1993: American Academy of Microbiology 1992: American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1991: Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences 1983: Distinguished Alumna, Brooklyn College