Tributes to Professor C. David Allis, a leading figure in epigenetics

On January 10, 2023, according to the official news of Rockefeller University, Professor C. David Allis died at the age of 72 (1951-2023).

C. David Allis is an American biologist, professor at Rockefeller University in New York City, and winner of the 2018 Lasker Prize.

In 1973, he graduated from the University of Cincinnati, where he benefited from professors Keller and Bharier and was inducted into the Hall of Science.

He earned a master's degree in biology from Indiana University in 1975 and a doctorate in 1978, during which time he became fascinated with developmental biology and began studying fruit fly development under Anthony P. Mahowald, a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

After graduating, Dr. Allis went to the University of Rochester to study chromatin under Martin Gorovsky, a once-obscure subject that would have a major impact on his later career.

After his PhD, Allis arrived in 1981 as an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he received two major shocks. He was encouraged by Baylor's Salih Wakil(elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1990).

Over the next decade or so, Allis gradually gained the position of full professor. From 1990 to 2003, Allis was a professor at Syracuse University, the University of Rochester, and the University of Virginia HealthSystem.

He is a professor of epigenetics and Chromatin Biology at Rockefeller University and Director of the Laboratory since 2003. Professor Allis is a highly respected scientist in the field of epigenetics and has been awarded the 2003 Massry Award, the 2004 Wiley Award in Biomedical Sciences, the 2007 Gairdner International Award in Canada, the 2008 ASMBB-Merck Award, and the 2008 Gairdner Award. International awards include the 2011 Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Outstanding Work in Basic Medicine, the 2012 Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate Award, the 2014 Japan Prize, the 2014 Charles-Leopold-Meyer Prize of the French Academy of Sciences, and the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.

The man is gone, but the legend lives on.