Dr. Mariana Federica Wolfner is Goldwin Smith Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow. She has received awards and recognition for her research from the Genetics Society of America, the Entomological Society of America, the International Congress of Entomology Council, and awards from Cornell for her teaching and advising. She is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science as well as the National Academy of Sciences. She serves on several Editorial and Biology organizations’ Boards and various grant panels. Her primary areas of teaching are in Development & Evolution and Advanced Genetics. She received her B.A. in Biology and Chemistry from Cornell, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Stanford, and postdoctoral work at UC San Diego.

The Wolfner Laboratory uses the Drosophila model to study molecular signals that mediate reproduction. Their genetic, molecular, and evolutionary studies center on how the reproductive physiology and behavior of mated female insects change after mating, and the roles of female- and male-derived cells and molecules in these changes. In a related area, in collaboration with Dr. A. Clark they identified maternal genes and neurons whose activity can alter the relative paternity of her offspring. The Wolfner lab also investigates the changes in the oocyte’s nucleus, cytoplasm, and envelopes as it transitions to zygotic development.  At the symposium Session 2: The reproducing female: a closer look, Dr. Mariana Wolfner will be presenting the female side of male x female interactions that modulate sperm competition and reproduction.

Source: Mariana Wolfner. (2019). Retrieved from https://mbg.cornell.edu/people/mariana-wolfner/.