Catherine L. Peichel

Catherine (Katie) Peichel is a Professor at the University of Bern, where she moved in 2016 after leading a research group for 13 years at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. She played a pivotal role in bringing molecular genetics to solving evolutionary problems in wild species. She helped develop threespine stickleback into a major new model for evolutionary genetics research, building the first linkage and trait locus maps for stickleback. Her work showed that defensive armor, feeding apparatus, niche use, and schooling behavior map to specific chromosome regions with large effects and identified specific genes underlying these traits using transgenic approaches. She also pioneered the use of sticklebacks as a model for understanding how and why sex chromosomes evolve. Through this work, she discovered a neo sex chromosome and its link to the origin of a new species. Her work has revealed the genetic underpinnings of morphology, behavior, and fitness, as well as the formation of new species. Professor Peichel is a dedicated mentor and teacher, and she is an author on the undergraduate textbook Introduction to Genetic Analysis. She previously received a Guggenheim Fellowship and served as President of the American Genetic Association.