Conly Rieder

Rieder began his interest in biology at UC Irvine, where he obtained his B.S. in 1972. He completed his graduate work at the University of Oregon under Dr. Andrew Bajer, receiving his M.S. in 1975 and his Ph.D. in 1977.[7] He then went on to pursue post-doctoral studies under Dr. Hans Ris at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he focused on high power electron microscopy.

In 1980, Rieder was offered a position at the New York State Department of Health, where he achieved tenure within three years. Throughout his career, he published over a hundred full-length peer-reviewed research papers on the topic of cell division.[9] His articles have appeared in highly ranked journals,[10] including multiple publications in Science,[11][12] Nature[13] and The Journal of Cell Biology.[14] His pictures of newt lung cells undergoing the various stages of mitosis have appeared on numerous covers of the aforementioned journals alongside his articles. Additionally, Dr. Rieder has contributed to, and edited, a variety of widely read textbooks [15][16] and encyclopedia articles.[17]

As a cell biologist, Rieder was the first to observe microtubule capture by kinetochores in live cells. This process was predicted by Mark Kirschner and Tim Mitchison in 1986 who formulated the so called 'Search and Capture' hypothesis of mitotic spindle assembly.[18] Rieder's 1990 papers provided the first direct observation of this process.[19] Rieder also developed the concept of 'polar wind', an ejection force that ejects chromosome arms from the spindle. This hypothesis stems from the laser experiments conducted in the 1990s, and is a concept still widely accepted by the field today.[20]

Rieder contributed significantly to the concept of 'spindle assembly checkpoint' (SAC).[21][22] Rieder pioneered the idea that cells remain in mitosis until each chromosome becomes attached to the spindle and only then mitotic exit is initiated.[23] By using the laser to ablate kinetochores on individual chromosomes, Rieder proved that the signal that delays mitotic progression is produced by kinetochores that lack attachment to spindle microtubules.[24][25]

During his time in the field, Rieder specialized in electron microscopy, and excelled at serial-sectioning cells and imaging in three dimensions.[26] He was one of the early pioneers at correlative light and electron microscopy.[27] These efforts underlie the ability to match dynamic cellular processes with high resolution structure.[28]

Throughout his career, Rieder has shared his work at a variety of scientific forums, worked with other leading researchers in the field [29][30] and has mentored scientists through their graduate and post-doctoral work.[31] In January 2012, Rieder retired from the New York State Department of Health after a 32-year career. He then worked as Editor in Chief of Chromosome Research [32] for 8 years before retiring.