Paul Trainor, Ph.D., a developmental biologist, is an Investigator at the Stowers Institute. Trainor joined the Institute in 2001, and is a leader in the fields of craniofacial, neural crest cell, and developmental biology.

An Australian native, Trainor earned a B.S. in genetics and biochemistry before receiving a Ph.D. in developmental biology in the lab of renowned embryologist Patrick Tam, Ph.D., at the Children’s Medical Research Institute of Sydney. Trainor moved to London for his postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Medical Research with Robb Krumlauf, Ph.D., a pioneer in how part of the brain, called the hindbrain, patterns facial structures.

In his lab, Trainor and his team investigates the genetic and developmental programs that cause rare diseases. In particular, they focus on how disruptions in neural crest cell formation lead to congenital disorders of the head and face like Treacher-Collins Syndrome and Acrofacial Dysostosis-Cincinnati Type. Trainor believes that rare diseases deserve the same attention and resources as more common conditions.