Luis Fernando Parada

Luis F. Parada obtained a BS from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in Biology from MIT, identifying oncogenes in human cancer. He was a Damon Runyon and Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow at the Pasteur Institute. He headed the Molecular Embryology Section at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, MD from 1988 to 1994 when he moved to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas as the inaugurating Diana and Richard C. Strauss Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology, and was Director of the Kent Waldrep Foundation Center for Basic Neuroscience Research. During his time in Dallas, Dr. Parada advanced his studies of nerve cell survival and regeneration, mood disorders, and renewed his attention on cancer with emphasis on the nervous system. His laboratory uses genetic mouse models to study human disease including Neurofibromatosis, cancers of the nervous system, autism, and neural development. 

In 2015 Dr. Parada moved his laboratory to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to assume leadership of the interdisciplinary Brain Tumor Center. In addition, Dr. Parada holds the Albert C. Foster Chair and is Professor of Cancer Biology and Genetics. In recognition of his contributions to science, Dr. Parada has been elected to The National Academy of Sciences, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences: The Institute of Medicine - National Academy of Sciences (National Academy of Medicine), The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST), and is a life-time American Cancer Society Professor.