Jeffrey I. Gordon, M.D., the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor, has been appointed director of the new Center for Genome Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
The center is an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary and University-wide program strategically located adjacent to the Genome Sequencing Center at the School of Medicine, which played a major role in the success of the Human Genome Project.
The new Center for Genome Sciences is the first of three major components to be implemented for BioMed 21, the University’s visionary initiative dedicated to using the latest knowledge of the human genetic blueprint to develop new ways to diagnose, treat and ultimately prevent a variety of common human diseases.
“Not only is Jeff one of the University’s most valued and esteemed leaders, he also is internationally respected as one of the foremost scientists in his field,” says Larry J. Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “He has been extremely influential in the exciting new field of translating basic genetic data into clinically relevant research, which embodies the goals of our BioMed 21 initiative.
“His enthusiasm, curiosity, openness, keen mind and long and distinguished history with Washington University are attributes that will serve the University well as he assumes this important new role.”
Based at 4444 Forest Park Ave., the new center will provide space for faculty and students from throughout the University and bind together research and educational programs in comparative genomics and systems biology. These emerging fields combine computational science with quantitative experimental biology to examine the origin, structure and function of the complex networks of genes and gene products that regulate cellular behavior. Information gained through this research promises to lead to key insights about the basis of human health and disease.
“The new center represents a community of scientists with a broad range of research expertise who have come together to create an environment in which people can address fundamental questions in comparative genomics and systems biology,” Gordon says.
In addition to Gordon, there are four other founding members of the center. Mark Johnston, Ph.D., professor and interim head of the Department of Genetics, is using yeast as a model organism to decipher gene regulatory networks, including those involved in glucose sensing. Sean R. Eddy, Ph.D., the Alvin Goldfarb Distinguished Professor of Computational Biology, and an investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is studying so-called non-coding RNAs that may be the molecular fossils of an ancient world in which organisms used RNA rather than DNA and proteins to conduct the business of life. Eddy also is developing new computational approaches for recognizing these RNAs and other features in genome sequences. Robi Mitra, Ph.D., assistant professor of genetics, is developing innovative new strategies for sequencing DNA and identifying gene mutations. Barak Cohen, Ph.D., assistant professor of genetics, is constructing computational models of gene regulatory networks designed to allow better understanding of how organisms evolve and adapt to changes in their environment. Cohen’s work promises to provide new ways of classifying human diseases based on patterns of mRNA and protein expression in diseased versus healthy cell populations. Later this year, the five founding members of the center will be joined by three other faculty from the medical and Hilltop campuses.
Center members will provide new tools to their neighbors in the Genome Sequencing Center to help interpret the vast amount of information being generated from ongoing sequencing projects. These sequencing projects are designed to study the evolution of life on Earth; to identify mutations in humans that affect predisposition to a number of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders and cardiovascular illnesses; and to better understand and diagnose infectious diseases.
Gordon joined the Washington University faculty in 1981 after completing his clinical training in internal medicine and gastroenterology and serving as a research associate at the National Institutes of Health. He served as head of the Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology at the School of Medicine from 1991 to 2004. From 1994 to 2003, he was director of Washington University’s Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, which oversees graduate student education in the biological and biomedical sciences. He also served as a member, then chairperson, of a Burroughs Wellcome Fund advisory committee that directs a nationwide program to promote institutional transformations that allow talented young individuals to conduct innovative work at the interface between the biological and physical/computational sciences and mathematics.
Gordon was named the first Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor in 2002. He is internationally renowned for his research on gastrointestinal development and the molecular foundations and evolution of symbiotic relationships between bacteria and animals, especially those that occur in the digestive tract. He has authored more than 340 papers and holds 23 patents. His academic distinctions include membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Gordon has mentored over 80 Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows in his lab during his tenure at the University. In 2002, he received the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award from the Graduate Student Council. He and his colleagues plan to take advantage of the Center for Genome Sciences’ interdisciplinary environment to develop new ways to educate graduate and undergraduate students from multiple schools in the University and to promote career development of faculty.
“We see this center as a very dynamic place that will nurture investigators from various disciplines for varying lengths of time,” Gordon explains. “It also will provide students with a wealth of new and exciting intellectual opportunities, positioning them to take advantage of this truly revolutionary time in the biological and biomedical sciences, and to become future leaders in their chosen fields.”
The full-time and volunteer faculty of Washington University School of Medicine are the physicians and surgeons of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked second in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.