Huda Y. Zoghbi, MD

“What many may not know is that our foray into these very basic research studies led us to numerous discoveries that proved clinically relevant after all—whether a discovery of a new disease gene or a potential path for a therapeutic intervention.”

Huda Y. Zoghbi is a professor in the departments of Pediatrics, Molecular and Human Genetics, and Neurology and Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her work has helped uncover genes and mechanisms responsible for not only Rett syndrome but also for spinocerebellar ataxia neurological disorders. Zoghbi’s research in animal models of the Math1 gene, which is important for coordination of the sense of position in space, has shed light on diverse physiological areas, including balance, deafness, respiration, and intestinal development.

Zoghbi has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has been awarded numerous recognitions for her work including the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology and the Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science.

Zoghbi earned her B.Sc. from the American University of Beirut, received her M.D. from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, and completed her pediatrics residency and a joint residency in neurology and pediatric neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, where she then pursued postdoctoral research training in molecular genetics.