Richard M. Myers

Richard M. Myers
Born (1954-03-24) March 24, 1954
Selma, Alabama
Residence Huntsville, Alabama
Nationality United States
Citizenship United States
Alma mater University of Alabama (BS in Biochemistry)
University of California at Berkeley (PhD in biochemistry)
Scientific career
Fields Genetics
Institutions HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology

Richard M. Myers (born March 24, 1954) is an American geneticist and biochemist. He is President and Science Director of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.[1] He was previously the chair of the department of genetics at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Human Genome Center.[2][3]

Myers' genome center contributed approximately 10 percent of the data in the Human Genome Project's efforts to sequence the human genome.[4] His research focuses on human genetics and genomics and their interaction with inherited diseases.

Early life and education

Myers was born in Selma, Alabama in 1954 and moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama at age 10. He attended college at the University of Alabama where he earned his bachelor's degree in biochemistry. He then went to graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley, earning his Ph.D. in 1982 in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Tjian. After that, Myers spent almost four years as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Tom Maniatis, where he studied human gene regulation. Some new technologies he developed in Maniatis's lab exposed him to the field of human genetics, and much of his work since then has involved developing and using genomics and genetic tools to understand basic human biology and disease. Myers served on the faculty at the University of California in San Francisco from 1985 - 1993, and then in the Department of Genetics at the Stanford University School of Medicine from 1993 - 2008. He moved to Huntsville Alabama in 2008 to help build the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and continues to serve as president and science director.

Human Genome Project

During his time at Stanford, Myers was professor and chair of the Department of Genetics and director of the Stanford Human Genome Center, one of the first U.S. human genome centers. Myers led the center to contribute more than 10 percent of the data in the Human Genome Project.

HudsonAlpha and the Myers Lab

Biotech visionaries James R. Hudson, Jr. and Lonnie S. McMillian founded HudsonAlpha in 2008. Former Governor of Alabama Bob Riley, announced in 2007 that Myers would lead the institute as president and science director.[5]

The Myers lab is composed of students, postdocs, technicians and senior scientists who are interested in how variation in our genomes contribute to human traits and disease. The lab measures this variation by developing and applying very high-throughput sequencing and analysis technologies. Current projects include pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, ENCODE, neurological disorders and nuclear receptors in gene regulation.

Honors and awards

  • 1975: Phi Beta Kappa, University of Alabama
  • 1977-1978: Abraham Rosenberg and Kaiser Fellowships, UC Berkeley
  • 1979-1980: Regents Fellowship, UC Berkeley
  • 1980-1981: Honors Students’ Society, UC Berkeley
  • 1982-1984: Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Fund Fellowship, UC Berkeley
  • 1984-1985: Leukemia Society of America Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard
  • 1988: Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award, UCSF
  • 1987-1990: Searle Scholar, UCSF
  • 1986-2003: Wills Foundation Award, UCSF/Stanford
  • 2002: Darden Lecture Award, University of Alabama
  • 2002: Pritzker Foundation Award, University of Washington
  • 2003: Blount Initiative Award, University of Alabama
  • 2005: Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters, University of Alabama
  • 2009: Leadership Alabama Inductee, Class 20
  • 2011: AAAS Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science

References

  1. ↑ http://hudsonalpha.org/about-us/leadership/executive-team. Missing or empty |title= (help); External link in |website= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  2. ↑ "Richard Myers, director of Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, Alabama".
  3. ↑ "Head of Stanford Human Genome Center to Lead HudsonAlpha".
  4. ↑ "Stanford researchers make major contribution to human genome sequence".
  5. ↑ "Riley Announces Scientific Director for HudsonAlpha Institute". http://www.sos.alabama.gov/PR/PR.aspx?ID=73. Alabama Secretary of State. External link in |website= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
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