A neurologist by training, Stefánsson founded Iceland-based deCODE Genetics to explore what the human genome can tell us about disease and our species’ evolution.

This University of California, Davis, botanist studies the genes that regulate plant anatomy.

By uncovering novel properties of a unique population of T cells, the Scripps Research Institute immunologist has helped to redefine the immune cells, uncovering their role in wound healing.

Studying how neural crest cells journey through the embryo, this Caltech developmental biologist has revealed how they form major cell types, including peripheral neurons, bone, and smooth muscle.

Turning to molecular genetics, the Baylor pediatric neurologist and geneticist works to discover the biological basis for the rare neurological diseases she sees in her patients.

The NIH epidemiologist has worked to ensure genetic health and population genetics studies contain data from African—not just European—populations.

Having pioneered the study of muscle physiology in mammals, she uncovered how ion channels enable muscle movement.

Shapiro helped to found the field of systems biology.

As the only woman who has piloted the deep-ocean research submersible Alvin, Van Dover is among the few researchers to have explored hydrothermal vents firsthand.