What do you do in your current job?
I am responsible for the operations, recruitment and strategy for the Jackson Laboratory (JAX), which has a major presence in academic basic science research, and is also a provider of research service to the global scientific community. I guide the direction and conduct of fundamental research for the organization and am the director of the institution’s National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center.
What have been your biggest professional accomplishments since being in your current role?
Over the last nine years of my presidency, JAX has increased its operating budget by 100%, doubled the faculty, started a cutting-edge new research center in Farmington with the founding of The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, entered into translational and clinical sciences, established JAX as a player in genomics and computational biology, expanded its physical footprint to include four campuses in three states, and initiated a business component in China.
In the process, JAX moved from a singular focus on mouse genetics to becoming a national center for complex genetics and functional genomics using the mouse and the human as model systems.
In what ways are you involved in the community?
With colleagues, I established COVID-19 testing capacity for the state, providing over a million tests that constituted 20% of Connecticut’s testing. I serve on the Boys & Girls Club of Hartford Advisory Board and am involved with the American Cancer Society regional chapter.
What’s your guiding business principle?
Always seek to do good.