Strausberg, Leading Genomic Scientist, to Become TIGR's V.P. for Research

Genomics innovator Robert L. Strausberg, who directs the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Cancer Genomics Office, has been named as TIGR's Vice President for Research. Strausberg has played an important role in the development of innovative tools and technologies for genome research, both at the NCI - where he helped devise new ways to collect and apply genomic information that is important to cancer research - and previously at the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Human Genome Research, where he headed the Sequencing Technology Branch from 1994-96.

April 24, 2003

Rockville, MD - Genomics innovator Robert L. Strausberg, who directs the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Cancer Genomics Office, has been named as Vice President for Research at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR).

Strausberg has played an important role in the development of innovative tools and technologies for genome research, both at the NCI - where he helped devise new ways to collect and apply genomic information that is important to cancer research - and previously at the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Center for Human Genome Research, where he headed the Sequencing Technology Branch from 1994 to 1996.

"Bob Strausberg clearly understands the big picture - how large-scale approaches can transform biological studies in many areas," said TIGR's president, Claire M. Fraser. "His many strengths as a scientist will be extremely helpful to TIGR as it enters its second decade and begins to focus on new areas of research in genomics and related fields."

TIGR's founder and Board Chairman, genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter, said: "From his early leadership role at NIH on the human genome project through his current position as director of the NCI Cancer Genomics Office, Bob has been a catalytic force for rapid advancement of genomic research and applications of this data."

Venter said, "I am confident that Bob will enable TIGR to continue its remarkable growth and its international dominance in genomic research."

Strausberg has directed the NCI's Cancer Genomics Office since 1999. In that position, he has led the planning and implementation of major research programs that are linking genomics to cancer research. He is director of the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project, the NIH's Mammalian Gene Collection Program, and the NCI Initiative in Chemical Genetics Program. He is also a member of the NIH Stem Cell Task Force.

Strausberg said, "I'm excited to be joining a dynamic research Institute with an impressive history and extremely bright prospects for an even more scientifically productive future."

"Genomics has a tremendous positive potential to help transform not only medicine, but many other fields, including agriculture, biodefense, the environment and energy," he said. "TIGR already is applying genomics to all of those fields, and - with this year's dramatic increase in its sequencing capacity as well as its plans for future expansion into dynamic new fields such as proteomics - the Institute is well positioned for a new era of even more productive research."

Founded in 1992, TIGR - a not-for-profit research institute - gained international attention in 1995 when it became the first lab to publish the complete genome sequence of a free-living organism. Since then, TIGR has become a world leader in genomics, deciphering the complete DNA sequences of more than 50 species or microbial strains - including the genomes of the pathogens that cause malaria, cholera, anthrax, Lyme Disease, syphilis, pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis, Q Fever, and gingivitis.

In addition to its outstanding microbial genomics program, TIGR has developed ambitious programs in parasite genomics, plant genomics, mammalian genomics, and bioinformatics. The Institute also has conducted groundbreaking work in functional genomics and is planning to develop a proteomics research group.

Fraser said Strausberg "will be working with me and TIGR's faculty to broaden our horizons and identify new and exciting areas of research, as well as to explore new technologies that will pave the way for advances in large-scale biological studies."

Strausberg's appointment as Vice President, beginning on May 19, occurs during a period of unprecedented growth for TIGR. The Institute, situated on an 18-acre campus in Rockville, MD, is constructing a new building that will double its lab and office space by year's end.

TIGR is also pooling resources with other institutes to create one of the nation's largest and most technologically advanced DNA sequencing centers: the J. Craig Venter Joint Technology Center, which is scheduled to open in Rockville this summer.