Remembering Jeffrey Pollard, Ph.D.
We mourn the passing of our valued and distinguished colleague, Jeffrey Pollard, Ph.D., professor emeritus of developmental and molecular biology, who died on May 1, 2023, following a lengthy illness.
![Jeffrey Pollard, Ph.D., 1950 to 2023]()
Jeff received a first class B.Sc.Hons degree from Sheffield University in 1970, and a Ph.D. from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London in 1974. After a post-doctoral period at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto, he moved to the faculty of King’s College, University of London, in 1980.
In 1988, he joined Einstein as an associate professor of developmental and molecular biology and was cross appointed to the department of obstetrics & gynecology in 1991. He rose through the ranks, becoming director of the Center for the Study of Reproductive Biology and Women’s Health in 2000, deputy director of the Albert Einstein Cancer Center in 2002, and holder of the Louis Goldstein Swann Chair in Women’s Health in 2008.
In 2013, he moved to Edinburgh, Scotland to assume directorship of the Medical Research Council Centre for Reproductive Health. Still, he remained a member of the Einstein faculty, earning emeritus status in 2020.
At both Einstein and in Edinburgh, Jeff focused on women’s reproductive health and made major findings in two important areas: He discovered the mechanism by which progesterone inhibits estrogen's proliferation of uterine epithelial cells, thereby enabling blastocysts to implant in the uterus; and he showed that macrophages promote metastatic disease by helping cancer cells exit primary tumors and penetrate blood-vessel walls, allowing the cancer cells to travel in the bloodstream to other parts of the body.
Among the many honors recognizing his research excellence, Jeff was awarded the Medal of Honor for Basic Science Research from the American Cancer Society in 2010 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences.
While at Einstein, Jeff was an outstanding mentor who, for many years, organized our international training course in mouse genetic engineering. To commemorate his legacy at Einstein and his valuable contributions to science, a memorial fund has been established in his name. The Jeffrey W. Pollard Memorial Fund will be used to support basic scientific and medical research and training within developmental and molecular biology, as well as to provide an annual Jeffrey Pollard Memorial Lecture, presented by an outstanding scientist. To make contributions to this fund, please visit: Jeffrey Pollard Memorial/. You also can Leave a Rememberance here.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Dr. Ooi-Thye Chong and to his family. He will be dearly missed.
Posted on: Thursday, May 25, 2023