David Jonah Grunwald, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah and a member of the Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation Program.

Grunwald uses zebrafish to study the signals that promote the growth and differentiation of tissue precursor cells. He studies how a series of related T-box transcription factors work together to control tissue-specific gene expression. Recent work has focused on how regulation of intracellular calcium fluxes affects response of cells to the Hedgehog Growth Factor, which promotes normal cell differentiation in some contexts and tumorigenesis in many other contexts. Finally, his lab works to identify factors that cause loss of chromosomes and disorganization of the genome, events frequently associated with the origins of cancers.

Grunwald received a bachelor’s degree from Williams College, Massachusetts, and a PhD in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is an Associate Editor of the journal Genetics.