Scott D. Emr

Early life and education Emr was born in Jersey City and a postdoctoral researcher at Randy Schekman's group. He left for Cornell University in 2007 when he was appointed as the founding director of the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology (later renamed to Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology after a donation from Joan and Sanford I. Weill) and a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of 1956 Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics.

Academically, Emr serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including (as of 2021) mBio, Journal of Cell Biology, Trends in Cell Biology, and Current Opinion in Cell Biology.

Research Emr's research focuses on the regulation of membrane vesicle trafficking pathways. His lab's study of the ESCRT (endosomal sorting complexes required for transport) complexes earned him a Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine. ESCRTs are required for the degradation of membrane protein at the lysosome, a late step in cytokinesis, and the budding and release of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

His other research interests include lipid signaling (especially a group of lipids known as phosphatidylinositol phosphates), protein transport in cells by vesicles and the role of arrestin and ubiquitylation in the degradation of membrane proteins.

Honors and awards Fellow of the American Society for Microbiology (1998) Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1999) Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2004) Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2007) Avanti Award in Lipids, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2007) Associate Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (2008) van Deenen Medal, Institute of Biomembranes, Utrecht University (2014) Keith R. Porter Lecture, American Society for Cell Biology (2017) Fellow of the American Society for Cell Biology (2017) Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine (2021)

Personal life Emr met his wife Michelle in his junior year at university. She was also in her third year, majoring in music and early education. They married three years later when Emr was pursuing his PhD. As of 2021, their daughter Bryanna is a pediatric surgeon in Pittsburgh, and their son Kevin is an anesthesiologist in Albany, New York.