Rick Horwitz, Ph.D.

Rick Horwitz is the previous Senior Advisor and Inaugural Executive Director, Emeritus at the Allen Institute for Cell Science in Seattle and the Harrison Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology and University Professor, Emeritus at the University of Virginia. He is a career-long practitioner of collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and open science.

His major scientific contributions include the discovery of the integrin family of matrix adhesion receptors, pioneering and leadership roles in the field of cell migration, and building dynamic cellular maps using new, quantitative live cell imaging methodologies.

In 2013, as Associate Vice President for Research and Biosciences at UVA, he envisioned and led the planning and initial fundraising for a multidisciplinary Data Science Institute, which evolved into the country’s first School of Data Science. In 2014, Rick moved to Seattle to envision and lead the new Allen Institute for Cell Science, which is developing quantitative imaging and computational analysis at scale using gene-edited hiPSC cells for understanding cellular morphogenesis, cell state transitions, and disease.

Rick received a BA (chemistry (math)) in the Honors Program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a PhD from Stanford University (biophysics (chemical physics)); he did a postdoc in magnetic resonance at UC Berkeley. His career began at University of Pennsylvania, with a subsequent move to the University of Illinois (UIUC), where he founded a new Department of Cell Biology, and then to the University of Virginia, where he formed and led the international, NIH-sponsored Cell Migration Consortium. Rick has served in numerous editorial, strategic planning, leadership, and advisory roles, most recently serving on the NIH Council of Councils, which advises the NIH Director on program coordination, planning, and strategy. He currently lives in Rockport, MA.