John Schimenti

John Schimenti is a James Law Professor of Genetics at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. His research focuses on the genetics of reproduction, meiosis, and genome maintenance, particularly checkpoint mechanisms that prevent chromosomal aberrations and birth defects. He has developed CRISPR-based models for studying human infertility alleles.

• Education: BA from Rutgers University, PhD from University of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Postdoctoral training at Princeton University
• Professional Experience: Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University (1987-1992), Staff Scientist at The Jackson Laboratory (1992-2004), Director of Cornell Center for Vertebrate Genomics (2004-2019)

Research Interests span reproductive genetics, DNA replication stress responses, and mechanisms ensuring germ cell quality. His recent work explores epigenetic regulators in primordial germ cell development and organoid mutagenesis for ovarian cancer drivers.

Publications cover meiotic recombination, infertility genetics, ovarian cancer modeling, and genome stability during development. Key areas include CHK2/CHK1 signaling, CDK2 functions, and RABL2A variants.

• Scientific Awards: March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Award, Searle Scholars Award, NSF Presidential Young Investigator, AAAS Fellow, SUNY Chancellor's Award

Teaching includes BioMG Genomics 4000/6000 for 19+ years. Affiliations: Primary in Biomedical Sciences (Cornell CVM), Joint in Molecular Biology and Genetics.