Prof. Hugo J. Bellen Baylor College of Medicine, USA

Prof. Hugo J. Bellen is a Distinguished Service Professor at Baylor College of Medicine in the Departments of Molecular and Human Genetics and Neuroscience, and a Principal Investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute. He earned a Ph.D. in Genetics at UC Davis, and completed postdoctoral work... read morewith Dr. Walter Gehring at the University of Basel in Switzerland. A world leader in Drosophila genetics, he has developed groundbreaking genetic tools and resources, advanced understanding of synaptic transmission and neurodegeneration, and applied fruit fly models to identify dozens of novel human disease genes through the NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Network. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a former President of the Genetics Society of America, and recipient of numerous awards, including the 2024 Gruber Genetics Prize, reflecting his transformative contributions to genetics, neuroscience, and rare disease research.