Dr.
Jeffrey D. Palmer
Indiana University
Molecular biologist; Educator
Area
Biological Sciences
Specialty
Evolution and Ecology
Elected
1999
Dr. Jeffrey D. Palmer is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology and holds the Class of 1955 Endowed Professorship at Indiana University. Palmer is widely considered to be a world leader in evolutionary genomics. Among other noteworthy accomplishments, he discovered and characterized the first cases of evolutionary transfer of gene function from the mitochondrion or chloroplast to the nucleus in modern eukaryotic evolution. His work has provided fundamental support for the introns-late theory for the origin and evolution of nuclear introns, and much of our understanding of the structure and evolution of chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes in plants derives from his studies. Palmer also pioneered the application of genetic variation to the elucidation of evolutionary relationships among plants. Palmer’s ongoing research uses comparative molecular biology, genomics, phylogenetics, and bioinformatics to study various the evolution of genes and genomes, namely: (1) horizontal gene transfer in plants, (2) transfer of mitochondrial genes to the nucleus, and (3) the accelerated evolution of mitochondrial genes. Palmer has received numerous accolades for his research, including: a NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, the David Starr Jordan Prize, the Wilhelmine E. Key Award, and a Merit Award from the Botanical Society of America. With more than 200 influential scientific papers to his credit in journals from Annual Review of Genetics, to Nature, to Science, Palmer was named in 2002 as one of the top 15 most highly cited researchers worldwide in the field of plant and animal sciences by the Institute for Scientific Information. In addition to his American Academy of Arts and Sciences membership, Palmer is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
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