obituary Suzanne Eaton: 1959–2019 Our mentor, Suzanne Eaton, tragically fell victim to homicide on 2 July 2019. The circumstances of her disappearance and death have shocked scientists and the public alike, worldwide. From the moment she went missing, the members of her family, laboratory and colleagues have received admirable and touching support from the scientifc community. This outpouring stands testament to the inspiration that Suzanne—a world-leader scientist, creative pioneer and beloved mentor—is to all of us.

uzanne sought diverse training range, are fascinating unsolved questions.” from early on in her career, first She was awestruck by nature and its Sby tackling the regulation of gene grandeur. Her views towards biology were expression as a graduate student with deeply informed and shaped by her regular Kathryn Calame, then by investigating exercise in philosophy. She wanted to tissue patterning at the developmental and understand biological processes on a grand molecular levels as a postdoc with Tom scale, hence her fascination in something so Kornberg and Kai Simons. She continued to fundamental as the effects of temperature. leverage her curiosity and large breadth of Leading a large group of scientists from knowledge to answer fundamental biological various disciplines—a ‘Forschergruppe’ questions by integrating concepts from (a german word she used frequently to refer disparate disciplines. to this group)—she took on the mammoth As Suzanne started her first independent task of asking how temperature coordinates position at the European Molecular biological processes at multiple levels: cell, Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in 1997, tissue and organism. In 2018, she published we had the privilege to observe the an article on the effects of temperature on principles that guided her research. In our feeding choices in flies, a scale in biology view, these define the ultimate scientific that was new to her career. approach, one that enables the most Suzanne was never domineering and meaningful discoveries: always practiced an inclusive approach Follow observations wherever they take Credit: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell with her colleagues’ contributions. As you. Suzanne had the unique ability to Biology and Genetics her longtime friend and colleague Pierre turn any result, even the least expected Leopold reflects, “Suzanne was serene, ones, into new directions for her work. An moving in science with grace. She did not initial interest of the lab was uncovering worked side by side doing laser ablations seem much concerned by competition. the molecular and cellular basis of polarity. for hours; she would tirelessly supply him Suzanne was over all interested in solving Tools that had been first established in with dissected wing discs. Her enthusiasm scientific questions, not promoting her Madin–Darby canine kidney cells, such as resulted in highly prolific collaborations own ego. She would simply love discussing glycophosphatidylinositol (gpi)-linked GFP, with physicists from the Max Planck science and would contribute with all her were used to investigate epithelial polarity Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, soul to your own ideas.” within fly tissues.When examining fly producing several seminal publications Suzanne’s scientific achievements wing imaginal discs, Suzanne was jumping on the biophysical principles underlying have repeatedly changed the course of with joy as vesicles containing the GFP-gpi growth and tissue formation. Additionally, many fields, including developmental marker spread to regions where it was not her innovative approaches, in which cell and biology, cellular biology and organismal initially expressed. This discovery was the developmental biology merged via imaging, growth control. The same dedication and seed for her work that tackled principles fueled a parallel research direction into the observationally acute spirit that she applied of morphogen dispersal, wherein the interplay between molecular regulators to understanding nature she also applied initial work on ‘argosomes’ delved into and cellular geometry that orchestrates to her interactions with the people around membrane dynamics using live imaging. tissue organization in the plane. Suzanne her. Her art of listening to people gave Suzanne, intuitively turning to biochemical was one of the first to explain phenomena anyone who was lucky enough to bump approaches, provided another major turn in developmental biology using physical into her an opportunity to grow. She took in the field, discovering that “argosomes are principles (forces, geometry) and at the same a chance on improbable circumstances and exogenously derived lipoprotein particles time couple it to large-scale image analysis scientists: she welcomed me, Valentina, into that facilitate the movement of morphogens and predictive modelling. Just like her her lab in 1998 even though I didn’t speak through the epithelium.” Suzanne went on biking trips, she loved to tread on uncharted English, and me, Suhrid, in 2016, even to highlight the systemic role of morphogen and unimagined territories in her research. though I specialized in ecology and had no signalling via the lipoprotein particles in Take fundamental and global approaches knowledge of cell biology. both flies and mammals. to complex biological problems. In Suzanne’s Her intentional investment in people Nurture endless determination and own words, “The biological mechanisms created a home for a large multitude of childlike curiosity. “Oh, it moves, it moves! that allow animals to coordinate biological scientists and a sense of belonging for the Let’s do another one,” recalls former processes at different temperatures, and scientific arena. We will all continue to graduate student Jens Roeper, as they what sets the limits of the viable temperature practice her teaching for generations to

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come. Suzanne set a model of parenthood, Valentina Greco 1 and Suhrid Ghosh2 e-mail: [email protected]; both of her scientific and biological children, 1Department of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, [email protected] that paves the paths for new ways to think New Haven, CT, USA. 2Max Planck institute of about our place as mentors, scientists and Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Published online: 22 August 2019 parents in this world. ❐ Germany. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-019-0387-1

1054 Nature Cell Biology | VOL 21 | SEPTEMBER 2019 | 1053–1054 | www.nature.com/naturecellbiology