Date: 19 March 2026 (Thursday)
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road 
Host: Professor Jung Kim

David Bilder is Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California-Berkeley.  His work focuses on the biology of epithelia, the fundamental cell type of all animals, often through the lens of the fruit fly Drosophila. The lab is best known for defining the conserved hierarchy that establishes cell polarity across many cell types and species, identifying novel morphogenetic movements that shape animal tissues, and uncovering mechanistic links between epithelial organization and growth control.  Their pioneering work on fly cancer models has expanded to explore tumor-host interactions including cachexia, coagulopathy, and anti-tumor immunity.

David has been recognized as a Searle Scholar, a Burroughs-Wellcome Career Award, and by the Mossman Developmental Biologist Award. He has served as President of the Drosophila Board, Chair of an NIH study section, Revising Author on the Alberts Molecular Biology of the Cell textbook and was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

There is a large gap between the deep understanding of mechanisms driving oncogenic transformation and the reasons why patients ultimately succumb to cancer. We now appreciate that interactions between the tumor and surrounding non-tumor (‘host’) cells play critical roles in mortality as well as tumor progression, but many mechanisms remain unknown. Drosophila’s high conservation of biology and genetics with humans has powered its long track record of high-impact discoveries; the reductionist fly system is particularly well-suited to probe mysteries of tumor–host interactions. I will present our use of Drosophila cancer models to study ‘paraneoplasias’ such as cachexia, coagulopathy, and fluid dysregulation, as well as unpublished work on anti-tumor immunity and immune evasion in this experimentally tractable invertebrate.

All are welcome.