Conly Rieder

Conly Leroy Rieder is a cancer researcher, focused in the field of mitotic cellular division. The bulk of his research, conducted from 1980 through 2011, was funded through NIH grants and conducted at the Wadsworth Center in the New York State Department of Health in Albany, New York. He is known for publishing on the subjects of chromosome motility, spindle assemblyand mitotic checkpoints. His research has contributed to the growing understanding of the process of cell division and the pathology of cancer.

Education and early career

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. 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 1982, Rieder co-authored (along with Ira Fred Salkin, Morris A. Gordon, and W.A. Samsonoff) a species of yeast that lives in human saliva (Blastoschizomyces pseudotrichosporon). This was later determined to be a taxonomic synonym of the currently accepted Magnusiomyces capitatus

Work at the Wadsworth Center

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. His articles have appeared in highly ranked journals, including multiple publications in Science, Natureand The Journal of Cell Biology. 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 textbooksand encyclopedia articles.

Throughout his career, Rieder has shared his work at dozens of scientific forums, worked with other leading researchers in the fieldand has mentored numerous scientists through their graduate and post-doctoral work. In January 2012, Rieder retired from the New York State Department of Health after a 32-year career. He is currently the Editor in Chief of Chromosome Researchand continues to be invited to seminars around the world.

Conly Rieder was born on November 2, 1950 in Orange County, California. He was the son of a World War II pilot, and thus spent several years in Japan as a youth.

In 1979, Rieder married Susan Nowogrodski, a ceramicist, while working in Madison, Wisconsin. Five years later, the couple had a daughter, Leila, and four years after that, they had a second daughter, Rachel.

Rieder currently lives in Upstate New York with his wife, Susan.