Richard M. Myers: What is the impact of the sequencing of the human genome and the increasing development of genomic technologies on the study of complex behavioral traits?
Abstract: The finished sequence of the human genome was reported by the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium in April 2003, and, from the beginning, has been freely available to researchers and the public worldwide. The sequence, particularly in conjunction with sequences of the genomes of many other organisms, has dramatically changed the way most biologists do research and has vastly increased our understanding of ourselves. My talk will briefly describe what we have learned from the sequence, the new technologies that have been enabled from it, and how it is impacting current and future studies in human biology.
About Dr. Myers
Professor of Genetics, Stanford University
Richard M. Myers, Ph.D. is the Stanford W. Ascherman Professor and Chairman of the Department of Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine. He also serves as Director of the Stanford Human Genome Center.
Dr. Myers' research uses classical and molecular genetics, genomics, and computational methods to understand the contributions of genes in a wide range of human traits, including diseases, behaviors and other phenotypes. He has particularly focused on diseases of the brain, including bipolar disease, Parkinson disease, Huntington disease and epilepsy. An area of emphasis is understanding how the regulation of transcription of human genes is coordinated and altered by DNA sequence differences between people as well as by environmental influences. His work has led to a genome-wide picture of regulatory elements and the proteins that control them during transcription.
Dr. Myers' research contributions have resulted in more than 170 publications and have been recognized by a Searle Scholar Award (1987-1990), a Pritzker Foundation Award (2002), a Wills Foundation Award (1996-2003) and an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Alabama (2005). He was on the editorial board of the journal Human Molecular Genetics from 1992-2000, the Board of Directors of the American Society of Human Genetics from 1997-2001, a member and chair of the Genome Research Review Committee, National Human Genome Research Institute from 1998-2002, and has served on numerous editorial, scientific society, and governmental review panels. He currently serves on more than a dozen groups, including serving as a member of the Advisory Council for the National Human Genome Research Institute, an editor of the journal Genome Research, a founding member of the Stanford Genetics/San Jose Tech Museum Science Education Partnership, and a member and chair of the HapMap Advisory Committee.
Dr. Myers teaches Ph.D. students, medical students and undergraduates at Stanford and participates in numerous activities concerned with increasing the public's understanding of and interest in science.
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