Marilyn Farquhar

Marilyn Gist Farquhar (July 11, 1928 – November 23, 2019) was a pathologist and cellular biologist, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Pathology, as well as the chair of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, who previously worked at Yale University from 1973 to 1990. She has won the E. B. Wilson Medal and the FASEB Excellence in Science Award. She was married to Nobel Laureate George Emil Palade from 1970 to his death in 2008. Her research focuses on control of intracellular membrane traffic and the molecular pathogenesis of auto immune kidney diseases. She has yielded a number of discoveries in basic biomedical research including: mechanisms of kidney disease, organization of functions that attach cells to one another, and mechanisms of secretions. Her father was from a pioneer family and worked as an insurance agent and farmer, who spent his free time writing novels. Her mother was also from a pioneer family and had begun college, but had to return home before completing her degree. Farquhar attributes her desire to pursue a career in medicine and biology to her mother's friend, Frances Zumwalt, who was a pediatrician. In 1951, Farquhar married another medical student, with whom she had two sons. During her time as a graduate student, she worked in the laboratory as a junior research pathologist and then an assistant research pathologist, after completing her Ph.D., under a pathology professor who was interested in glomerular disease. Recently Farquhar discovered molecules involved in novel G-protein mediated signaling pathways. These new proteins modulate G protein signaling and link G-protein signaling to growth factor receptor trafficking. The long-term goal is to advance understanding of the role of G proteins in regulating cell processes in health and disease. The other area of interest is focused on the podocyte, or glomerular epithelial cell.

Awards 1981 - President of American Society of Cell Biology 1987 - E.B. Wilson Medal of the American Society of Cell Biology 1988 - Homer Smith Medal of the American Society of Nephrology 1987 - Distinguished Scientist Medal of the Electron Microscopy Society of America 1988 - National Institutes of Health Merit Award 1991 - Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1997 - Chancellor's award for Excellence in Research at UCSD 1999 - Gomori Award from The Histochemical Society 2001 - Rous-Whipple Award of the American Society for Investigative Pathology 2006 - Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology Award for Excellence in Science 2017 - Revelle Medal

Selected publications