Title: Lorry Lokey Business Wire Professor of Biology and Human Biology
Company: Stanford University
Location: Stanford, California, United States
H. Craig Heller, PhD, Lorry Lokey Business Wire Professor of Biology and Human Biology at Stanford University, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for his dedication, leadership, and achievements in Higher Education as well as for his broad, prolific, original research.
Dr. Heller, lauded for his distinguished tenure in higher education, is a longtime faculty member at Stanford University in Stanford, California, where he has served as a professor of biological sciences since 1972. Besides lecturing on campus, he conducts research in his field, participates in University governance and handles various departmental and interdepartmental responsibilities. Dr. Heller’s success and longevity in academia can be attributed to his passion and expertise in several areas of integrative/organismal biology, such as thermoregulation, circadian rhythms and the neurobiology of sleep.
Dr. Heller began working at Stanford in 1972 as an assistant professor of biological sciences and advanced to associate professor in 1977 and full professor in 1983. During his tenure at Stanford, Dr. Heller has taught physiology in two of the largest majors at Stanford – Biology and the interdisciplinary program Human Biology. He served as Director of Human Biology from 1985 to 1992 and chaired the biology department between 1997 and 2001.
In preparation for his career in the life sciences, Dr. Heller obtained a Bachelor of Science in biology from Ursinus College in 1965. That same year, he began his graduate education as a doctoral student at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. His first experience in teaching was as a teaching fellow in Yale’s Biology Department followed by a year as Instructor of Biology in 1969. Leaving Yale in 1970 he spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.
Active in his professional community, Dr. Heller is recognized as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has also served as a director and chairman of the Sleep Research Society, a director of the biology education entity BSCS, a member and chair of the Defense Science Research Council, and a frequent member of NIH Study sections. He also gives back to various community initiatives, particularly those that support individuals with Down syndrome. He is also an advisor to the Open Medicine Foundation, a charitable organization comprised of world-renowned scientists who study, diagnose, treat and cure complex diseases.
As a seasoned scholar, Dr. Heller has contributed over 250 peer-reviewed publications. He is also a co-author of “Principles of Life,” published by W. H. Freeman and Company in 2012 and a co-author of “LIFE: The Science of Biology,” now in its 12th edition, published by Macmillan.
Among his most notable research achievements, Dr. Heller demonstrated that mammalian hibernation is an extended form of sleep. He also discovered that body temperature regulation is lower during NREM sleep and stops during REM sleep. He and his team recently found that certain body surfaces are especially adapted for heat loss enabling prevention of or rapid recovery from hyperthermia. That work led to the realization that muscle fatigue comes largely from rising muscle temperature. Removing this excess heat, muscles can work longer, improving conditioning and preventing heat-related injuries. In an entirely different area, Dr. Heller’s team has shown that sleep and healthy circadian rhythms are essential for learning and memory and may be used to improve learning and memory in individuals with Down syndrome.
In recognition of his contributions, Dr. Heller has been awarded numerous awards and citations, beginning with the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching from Stanford University in 1977. Other accolades from Stanford included the Kenneth M. Cuthbertson Award for exceptional contributions to Stanford University in 2010, and a Bass Fellowship for exceptional contributions to undergraduate education.
In the coming years, Dr. Heller will continue to work on potential therapies that could potentially help individuals with Down syndrome. He and colleagues also have a long-term goal of creating a post-secondary program at Stanford University for young adults with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities. Additionally, Dr. Heller plans to enhance his heat exchange technology for medical uses, which could aid patients with multiple sclerosis and other conditions, allowing them to participate in everyday activities. Dr. Heller finds science fascinating and enjoyable, but he is increasingly focused on using it to improve lives.
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