776: Expressing Enthusiasm for Decoding How Genomes are Involved in Human Health and Disease - Dr. Rick Myers

People Behind the Science Podcast Stories from Scientists about Science, Life, Research, and Science Careers

Dr. Richard M. Myers is the President, Science Director, and a Faculty Investigator at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. In addition, Rick is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At work, Rick balances being a scientist, running his research lab, and managing administrative responsibilities as head of a research institute. His research focuses on genetics and genomics. In particular, Rick aims to better understand how our genes and their expression contribute to our traits, health, and disease. He also examines how genes and gene expression can be regulated. Outside of science, Rick enjoys spending time with his family, including his two adult children. One currently lives in Seattle and the other lives in London. In addition, Rick's hobbies include cooking, gardening, and woodworking. He received is B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Alabama and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Afterwards, Rick conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard University. He served on the faculty at the University of California, San Francisco as well as at Stanford University where he contributed substantially to the efforts to sequence the human genome as part of the Human Genome Project. Rick accepted his current position at HudsonAlpha in 2008. He has received many awards and honors throughout his career including an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the University of Alabama, the Blount Initiative Award from the University of Alabama, the Pritzker Foundation Award from the University of Michigan, and the Darden Lecture Award from the University of Alabama. He has also been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In this interview, Rick discusses his experiences in life and science.