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Biography
Dr. Stephen J. O'Brien has been
Chief of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity (formerly Laboratory of Viral
Carcinogenesis) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes
of Health (NIH) since 1986.
Dr. O'Brien is internationally recognized for his research contributions
in human and animal genetics, evolutionary biology, AIDS, retrovirology
and species conservation. In collaboration with his students, fellows
and colleagues his list of achievements include: gene mapping of over
100 human genes including scores of cancer oncogenes; development of the
domestic cat gene map as a model for comparative genome analyses; discovery
of the remarkable genetic uniformity of the African cheetah, a prelude
to genetic assessment of endangered species; solving the century-old evolutionary
riddle of the giant panda's evolutionary history; discovery of epidemic
prevalence of feline immunodeficiency (AIDS) virus among wild cat species;
and description of the first human gene to affect HIV-1 infection and
AIDS progression, CCR5. His group has now identified eight distinct human
genetic variants that influence the outcome of exposure to HIV.
Dr. O'Brien was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Science in
1994, to the Explorer's Club in 1988 and to the Cosmos Club in 1987. He
has served as President of the NCI Assembly of Scientists, as Chairman
of the International Committee on Comparative Gene Mapping for the Human
Genome Organization (HUGO). He is the editor of Genetic Maps: Locus Maps
of Complex Genomes (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press); Executive Editor
of Journal of Heredity (American Genetics Association); Associate Editor
for Isozyme Bulletin, Genomics, Mammalian Genome, Molecular Phylogenetics
and Evolution, and Cosmos.
Dr. O'Brien and his colleagues founded and co-direct NOAHS (New Opportunities
in Animal Health Sciences), a consortium of scientists and apprentices,
part of the Smithsonian Institution/National Zoological Park, dedicated
to applying biomedical technology on behalf of species conservation and
to training a generation of conservation biomedical scientists. Under
Dr. O'Brien's direction, NOAHS has sponsored field wildlife genetics projects
on every continent except Antarctica (plus in the earth's oceans) using
the techniques of molecular biology to assess threats to endangered wildlife
species.
Dr. O'Brien has a strong dedication to education, having directed eight
Ph.D. dissertations, eight M.S. theses and twenty post-doctoral fellows.
He was appointed adjunct professor at seven universities: University of
Maryland, George Washington University, The Johns Hopkins University,
Colorado State University, George Mason University and Peking University
- Beijing. He was elected as "Andrew Dixon White" Professor at Large by
Cornell University in 1998. Each summer, he directs an internationally
heralded short course entitled, AAdvances in Conservation Genetics@ at
NOAHS/Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, Virginia.
Dr. O'Brien is the author or co-author of over 450 scientific articles
and the editor or co-editor of fourteen volumes. Dr. O'Brien received
his B.S. in Biology in 1966 from St. Francis College, which presented
him with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1994. He earned a Ph.D. in Genetics
from Cornell University in 1971, and served a postdoctoral fellowship
at the National Institute of Aging before joining the National Cancer
Institute in 1972 .
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Relevant Publications
Johnson, W. E., Pecon Slattery,
J., Eizirik, E., Kim, J.-H., Menotti-Raymond, M., Bonacic, C., Cambre,
R., Crawshaw, P., Nunes, A., Seuanez, H., Moreira, M. A., Seymour, K.
L., Simon, F., Swanson, W., and O'Brien, S. J.: Disparate phylogeographic
patterns of molecular genetic variation in four closely related South
American small cat species. Mol. Ecol. 8: S79-S94, 1999.
O'Brien, S. J. and Yuhki, N.: Comparative genome organization of the major
histocompatibility complex: Lessons from the Felidae. Immunol. Rev. 167:
133-144, 1999.
Culver, M., Johnson, W. E., Pecon Slattery, J., and O'Brien, S. J.: Genomic
ancestry of the American puma (Puma concolor). J. Hered. 91: 186-197,
2000.
O'Brien, S. J., Menotti-Raymond, M., Murphy, W. J., Nash, W. G., Wienberg,
J., Stanyon, R., Copeland, N. G., Jenkins, N. A., Womack, J. E., and Marshall
Graves, J. A.: The promise of comparative genomics in mammals. Science
286: 458-481, 1999.
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