Zachary Smith

Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor at the Yale Stem Cell Center, Department of Genetics, and Yale Cancer Center.

Dr. Smith received his B.S. in Biology from M.I.T. in 2008 and joined Dr. Alex Meissner’s new lab at Harvard University’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology shortly thereafter. During his time there, Zack published research on direct reprogramming of somatic cells to pluripotency, including early cellular and epigenetic dynamics, and applied emerging genome-scale technologies to study DNA methylation in precious samples. He continued applying cutting edge technologies to study the cellular and epigenetic dynamics that accompany critical windows of animal development from fertilization through the formation of the initial body plan. Zack received his Ph.D. in 2019 and joined the Yale Stem Cell Center and Department of Genetics as an Assistant Professor in September, 2020. He has been the recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the Chen Innovator Award, a Mathers Foundation Fellowship, and the Kingsley Fellowship.

Dr. Smith’s lab focuses on genome scale changes that accompany critical windows in development, including fertilization, the assembly the placental and embryonic lineages, and gastrulation. His lab continues to innovate new technologies to unravel the complex dynamics that determine healthy or abnormal fetal development as they scale from genes to cells and ultimately whole organisms.