Biographies
- R. Jude Samulski, PhD, President
- Xandra O. Breakefield, PhD, President-Elect
- David W. Russell, MD, PhD, Vice President
- Barrie J. Carter, PhD, Past President
R. Jude Samulski, PhD
President
Dr. Samulski is currently the Director of the Gene Therapy Center and Professor of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his PhD from the University of Florida in Gainesville and conducted his post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Shenk at Princeton University.
Dr. Samulski has been an Active Member of ASGCT since its inception. Since joining the Society, he has served on the Board of Directors, the Program Committee, Nominating Committee, and Advisory Council. He is currently the Chair of the ASGCT Viral Gene Transfers Committee.
Dr. Samulski's work in the field has been recognized by numerous awards, including the 2008 ASGCT Outstanding Achievement Award. He was also named the 1999 National Hemophilia Foundation Researcher of the Year.
Dr. Samulski's current research focuses on the dependent parvovirus adeno-associated virus. The ability of AAV to integrate and maintain itself in host cells and subsequent rescue and replication of its viral sequences is of considerable interest. He has established successful, long term gene expression, which directly addresses the issue of molecular therapy required for genetic disorders. One of Dr. Samulski's current goals of research is to continue to derive delivery systems for use in gene therapy.
Xandra O. Breakefield, PhD
President-Elect
Xandra Breakefield, PhD is a basic scientist with a strong background in molecular genetics and neuroscience, who has focused her efforts on: generation of novel vectors for gene delivery to the nervous system; gene therapy of brain tumors; development of nucleic acid biomarkers for cancer; and elucidation of neurologic disease genes. She and her colleagues have demonstrated selective killing and on-site vector propagation using replication-conditional HSV vectors encoding pro-drug activating enzymes for brain tumor therapy. Current work includes development of serum microvesicle RNA biomarkers for cancer detection. She has also been involved in cloning of neurologic disease genes, including: elucidation of monoamine oxidase genes and their involvement in human behavior; and positional cloning of the gene responsible for early onset DYT1 dystonia. She has been active in translation of basic discoveries into the clinical arena.
Dr. Breakefield graduated from Wilson College in 1965 and received her PhD in Microbial Genetics from Georgetown University. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Marshall Nirenberg at the NIH. She was appointed an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at Yale Medical School in 1974, and moved in 1984 to Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. She is currently Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Geneticist in the Neurology and Radiology Services at MGH.
Dr. Breakefield has received a number of awards for her work, including a McKnight Foundation Neuroscience Development Award, two Javits Neuroscience Investigator Awards, the Matilde Soloway Award in Neuroscience, and an honorary doctoral degree from Wilson College. She has served on the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee as well as on several NIH Study Sections.
David W. Russell, MD, PhD
Vice President
Dr. David Russell is a Professor of Medicine, Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry, and Investigator in the Markey Molecular Medicine Center at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. His prior service in the society includes membership on the Viral Vectors Committee, Nominating Committee, Education Committee (Chair 2001-3), and Program Committee. He has also served on the ASGCT Board of Directors.
Dr. Russell received his PhD in Genetics from the Rockefeller University and his MD from Cornell University Medical College. He received his clinical training in Internal Medicine at the New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston and in Hematology/Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He was a fellow in the laboratories of Norton Zinder and Dusty Miller.
Dr. Russell has a long-standing interest in developing improved methods for manipulating the mammalian genome. His interests include viral vectors, stem cells, genetic diseases, and gene therapy. His laboratory has made major contributions in the fields of adeno-associated virus vectors, foamy virus vectors, vector integration, gene targeting, and the genetic manipulation of human stem cells. His research accomplishments have led to several awards, including American Society of Hematology Scholar, Daland Fellow of the American Philosophical Society, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Investigator of the March of Dimes and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from The White House. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.
Barrie J. Carter, PhD
Past President
President
Carter BioConsulting
Dr. Carter is one of the original members of the Society and has served as Secretary and Abstract Chair (2003-2004), been on the Board of Directors twice (2000-2003 and 2005-2008), and has served in various capacities on the following committees: Publications Committee, Program Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Abstract Review Committee, Industrial Liaison Committee, and the Bylaws Committee.
Dr. Carter was Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Targeted Genetics Corporation in Seattle, Washington from 1992 to 2008. Previous appointments include Affiliate Professor of Medicine, University of Washington and at NIH from 1970-1992 he held appointments as Chief, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology, NIDDK; Head, Macromolecular Genetics Section, Laboratory of Cell Biology, NIDDK; and Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, NIDDK, NIH. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.
During his career, both professional and academic, Dr. Carter has received the GEN Excellence in Biotechnology Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drug Delivery; the Special Achievement Award from the NIDDK, NIH; the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Prize for Graduate Research, and several awards from New Zealand University.
Dr. Carter received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, did post-doctoral training at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, UK and was a Visiting Fellow at the Laboratory of Biology of Viruses at the NIAID, NIH.
Dr. Carter's major research interests are publications are in Gene Therapy, Molecular Biology, Virology, Adeno-associated Virus, AAV vectors, and Development of Gene Therapy Products.