Ronald W. Holz, MD, PhD, has diverse training in membrane biophysics (PhD with Alan Finkelstein, AECOM, Bronx, NY) and in neuroscience and neuropharmacology (post-doctoral fellow with Julius Axelrod, NIMH; guest investigator with Phillip Nelson, NICHD). His major research interest concerns the mechanisms underlying the late steps in regulated exocytosis. In recent years Dr. Holz has enjoyed a synergistic collaboration with Dr. Daniel Axelrod (Department of Physics, LSA Biophysics, University of Michigan), in which their complementary expertise in optical biophysics and cell biology have enabled new insights in secretory cell biology. They have recently imaged, for the first time, the expansion of the fusion pore and have determined the importance of the dynamin GTPase in the process.

Dr. Holz has been engaged in medical school and graduate school teaching for many years. He has mentored numerous PhD students and post-doctoral fellows, most of whom have gone on to productive careers in academia and industry.