Chair, Department of Genetics Yale University, School of Medicine | New Haven, Connecticut We are pleased to announce that Yale School of Medicine has named Valerie Reinke, PhD as its Chair of the Department of Genetics. For the past six years, Dr. Reinke has served as vice-chair of the department, and since July, she has held the role of interim chair.Dr. Reinke joined the Yale School of Medicine Department of Genetics in 2000. Her lab has advanced genomic technologies to discover novel and fundamental gene regulatory mechanisms that direct germ cell function, organization, and development to understand how genome organization and composition influence complex tissue-specific regulatory programs, using the model organism C. elegans.Dr. Reinke has been a member of thesis/qualifying committees for approximately 80 students. For 10 years, she was also the co-director of the Molecular, Cellular Biology, Genetics, and Development track in the Yale Biological and Biomedical Sciences graduate program, where she worked to create a more diverse student population and improve the quality of their training experience and career opportunities. For the past 12 years, Dr. Reinke has served as the co-director of the Training Program in Genetics, a long-standing National Institutes of Health T32 training grant that sponsors 14 students each year. She is also currently a leader in the Office of Physician-Scientist and Scientist Development and helps lead multiple committees and advisory boards providing mentoring, career development, and support to YSM faculty and trainees.Dr. Reinke received an undergraduate degree in genetics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Texas Health Science Center. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University.Ariannah Mirick led this search with Jane McInerney.You may read the full press release here.