Mark C. Fishman, M.D., is Professor in the Harvard Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology and Chief of the Pathways Clinical Service at the MGH for patients with complex medical disorders. His current research focus is on the genes that guide social behavior, using genetics of the zebrafish.
In the 1990s, by harnessing the first large-scale genetic screens in zebrafish (performed in collaboration with W. Driever and contemporaneously with C. Nuesslein-Volhard), and by providing much of the early genomic infrastructure, Mark’s lab helped to make the zebrafish a cornerstone of developmental biology, and led to revelation of many of the pathways that guide vertebrate organ development, particularly the heart and vessels.
From 2002-2016 Mark was the founding President of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR). During his tenure, NIBR discovered and brought 90 new medicines through successful clinical trials in more than 120 indications. He brought a particular focus on regenerative medicines as treatments for disorders of aging.
Mark graduated from Yale College and Harvard Medical School and trained in medicine and cardiology at the MGH. Prior to his time at NIBR, he was the Founding Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center and Chief of Cardiology at the MGH. In addition to his publications in developmental biology and drug discovery, Mark is the author of the textbook, Medicine, and of Lab, an architecture book on how to design buildings for scientists. Mark sits on the Executive Committee and Council of the National Academy of Medicine, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
