David Kurtz
One year after completing his Ph.D. at Columbia University, David Kurtz, molecular biologist joined Mike Wigler at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to study mammalian cell genetics. In 1983, he and Watson co-authored the first edition of a textbook entitled Recombinant DNA, which sought to introduce undergraduates to this topic and the controversy that once surrounded it. He also directed the Undergraduate Research Program from 1983-1985, while working along scientists such as Bruce Stillman and Barbara McClintock. In 1986, Kurtz left CSHL to become a professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Current research at the Kurtz Laboratory involves the study of gene expression in higher eukaryotes with emphasis on secondary steroid hormone response and the mechanisms by which transcription can suppress cell division. Kurtz intends to elucidate the mechanisms of carcinogenesis in the lung, liver and prostrate through these studies of cell cycle regulation.