Jonathon Howard

Jonathon (Joe) Howard is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, a Professor of Physics, and a member of the Quantitative Biology Institute at Yale University. He is best known for his research on the mechanical properties of motor proteins and the cytoskeleton, as well as the development of techniques for observing, measuring, and manipulating individual biological molecules. His group studies several cellular systems where force and motion play key roles, including the motility of cilia and the branching of developing neurons.

Born and raised in Australia, where he studied mathematics and neurobiology at the Australian National University, Professor Howard was a faculty member at the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle. He also served as a founding Director of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, before moving to Yale in 2013, where he now enjoys new research projects and teaching.