Eric Lander

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eric Lander
Eric Lander, PCAST Co-Chair (cropped).jpg
11th Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
Science Advisor to the President
Assumed office
June 2, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byKelvin Droegemeier
Personal details
Born (1957-02-03) February 3, 1957 (age 64)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic[1]
Spouse(s)Lori Lander
EducationPrinceton University (AB)
Wolfson College, Oxford (MS, DPhil)
AwardsMacArthur Fellowship (1987)
Dickson Prize (1997)
Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service (1998)
Gairdner Award (2002)
Harvey Prize (2012)
Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2013)
Scientific career
InstitutionsBroad Institute
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ThesisTopics in algebraic coding theory (1980)
Doctoral advisorPeter Cameron
Doctoral studentsJulie Segre[2]
Kenro Kusumi[3]
Manolis Kellis[4]
Erez Lieberman Aiden
Mark Daly

Eric Steven Lander (born February 3, 1957) is an American mathematician and geneticist who is the 11th Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Science Advisor to the President, serving on the Cabinet in both capacities.[5][6] Lander is a professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School, a former member of the Whitehead Institute, and the founding director of the Broad Institute. He is a 1987 MacArthur Fellow and Rhodes Scholar. Lander co-chaired President Barack Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.[7][8]

Early life and education[]

Lander was born in Brooklyn, New York City,[9] to Jewish parents,[10] the son of Rhoda G. Lander, a social studies teacher, and Harold Lander, an attorney.[11] He was captain of the math team at Stuyvesant High School,[12] graduating in 1974 as valedictorian and an International Mathematical Olympiad Silver Medalist for the U.S.[13] He attended and later taught at the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics program. At age 17, he wrote a paper on quasiperfect numbers for which he won the Westinghouse Science Talent Search.[13]

Lander graduated from Princeton University in 1978 as valedictorian and with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics.[13][14] He completed his senior thesis, "On the structure of projective modules", under John Coleman Moore's supervision.[15] He then attended Wolfson College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar,[16] and he wrote his Doctor of Philosophy thesis on algebraic coding theory and symmetric block designs under Peter Cameron's supervision.[17]

Career[]

Early mathematical career[]

As a mathematician, Lander studied combinatorics and applications of representation theory to coding theory. He enjoyed mathematics, but did not wish to spend his life in such a "monastic" career.[18] Unsure what to do next, he took a job teaching managerial economics at Harvard Business School and began a book on information theory. At the suggestion of his brother, developmental biologist Arthur Lander, he started to look at neurobiology, saying at the time, "because there's a lot of information in the brain".[19] To understand mathematical neurobiology, he felt he had to study cellular neurobiology; this in turn led to studying microbiology and eventually genetics. "When I finally feel I have learned genetics, I should get back to these other problems. But I'm still trying to get the genetics right", Lander said.

Lander later became acquainted with David Botstein, a geneticist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Botstein was working on a way to unravel how subtle differences in complex genetic systems can become disorders such as cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia, and even obesity. The two collaborated to develop a computer algorithm to analyze the maps of genes.[18] In 1986 Lander joined the Whitehead Institute and became an assistant professor at MIT. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1987. In 1990, he founded the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research (WICGR). The WICGR became one of the world's leading centers of genome research, and under Lander's leadership made great progress in developing new methods of analyzing mammalian genomes. It also made important breakthroughs in applying this information to the study of human genetic variation, and formed the basis for the foundation of the Broad Institute—a transformation Lander spearheaded.

Contributions to genomics[]

Two main groups attempted to sequence the human genome. The first was the Human Genome Project (HGP), a loosely organized, publicly funded effort that intended to publish the information it obtained freely and without restrictions. Many research groups from countries all over the world were involved in this effort. The second was undertaken by Celera Genomics, which intended to patent the information obtained and charge subscriptions for use of the sequence data. Established first, the HGP moved slowly in the early phases as the Department of Energy's role was unclear and sequencing technology was in its infancy. Officially, the HGP had an eight-year head start before Celera entered the race, though discussions for the HGP began fourteen years before Celera announced their own project.[20][21] Because the HGP was a $3 billion publicly funded venture,[20] the consortia raced to enter as much of the human genome into the public domain as quickly as possible once Celera began work in 1998. This was a change of strategy for the HGP, because many scientists at the time wanted to establish a more complete copy of the genome, not simply publish the many fragments individually. Lander aggressively pressured HGP scientists to work longer and faster to publish genome fragments before Celera.[22] Lander himself is now listed on a shocking 73 patents and patent applications related to genomics.[23]

In February 2001, both the HGP and Celera published drafts of the human genome in the scientific journals Nature[24] and Science,[25] respectively. In the HGP's Nature publication, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Center for Genome Research, was listed first, with Lander listed as the first named author.[24][26]

Leveraging Celera's sequencing and analysis techniques, the Whitehead Institute also made a contribution to the sequencing of the mouse genome,[27] an important step in fully understanding the molecular biology of mice, which are often used as model organisms in studies of everything from human diseases to embryonic development. The WICGR has since sequenced the genomes of Ciona savignyi (sea squirt),[28] the pufferfish,[29] the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa,[30] and multiple relatives of Saccharomyces cerevisiae,[31] one of the most studied yeasts. The Ciona savignyi genome provides a good system for exploring the evolutionary origins of all vertebrates. Pufferfish have smaller-sized genomes than other vertebrates; as a result, their genomes are "mini" models for vertebrates. The sequencing of the yeasts related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae will facilitate the identification of key gene regulatory elements, some of which may be common to all eukaryotes (including both plant and animal kingdoms).

Lander was the founding editor of the Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics.[32] He remained editor till 2004.

Beyond genomics[]

Sequence data is a list of bases found in a given stretch of DNA. Its value lies in the discoveries and new technologies it allows. For Lander, one of these applications is the study of disease. Lander is the founder and director of the Broad Institute, a collaboration between MIT, Harvard, the Whitehead institute, and affiliated hospitals. Its goal is "to create tools for genome medicine and make them broadly available to the scientific community in order to apply these tools to propel the understanding and treatment of disease". To this end they are studying the variation in the human genome and have led an international effort that has assembled a library of 2.1 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). These act as markers or signposts in the genome, allowing the identification of disease susceptibility genes. They hope to construct a map of the human genome using blocks of these SNP called linkage disequilibrium (LD). This map will be of significant help in medical genetics by allowing researchers to link a given condition to a given gene or set of genes using the LD as a marker. This will allow for improved diagnostic procedures. Lander and his colleagues are hoping the LD map will allow them to test the Common Disease-Common Variant hypothesis that states that many common diseases may be caused by a small number of common alleles. For example, 50% of the variance in susceptibility to Alzheimer's disease is explained by the common allele ApoE4. Lander's group has recently discovered an important association that accounts for a large proportion of population risk for adult-onset diabetes.

Lander's most important work[33] may be his development of a molecular taxonomy for cancers.[34] The cancers are grouped according to gene expression and information such as their response to chemotherapy. The division of cancers into homogeneous subgroups will increase understanding of these cancers' molecular origins and help devise more effective therapies. Lander's group has also identified a new type of leukemia, MLL, and a gene that may serve as a target for a new drug.

Teaching[]

For several years, Lander has co-taught MIT's required undergraduate introductory biology course (7.012) with Robert Weinberg. Since 2013 he has also taught two online courses, "Quantitative Biology Workshop" and "7.00x Introduction to Biology - The Secret of Life" via the EdX platform by working with the MITx Bio group.[35]

Translational ventures[]

Lander is a founding advisor of Foundation Medicine, a company that aims to bring comprehensive cancer genomic analysis to routine clinical care.[36] He is also a co-founder of Verastem, a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer by targeting cancer stem cells.[37]

Forensic science and criminal justice[]

In 1989, Lander provided expert testimony in the New York criminal case People v. Castro. He showed that the then-current method of interpreting DNA evidence was liable to give false positive matches, implicating innocent defendants.[38][39][40] Two of the defense attorneys in that case, Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck, went on to found the Innocence Project, an organization that uses DNA analysis to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners. Lander is a member of the Innocence Project's board of directors.[41]

Science Advisor to the President[]

Lander places hand on ancient text
Vice President Kamala Harris swears-in Eric Lander as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy Wednesday, June 2, 2021.

In January 2021, President-elect Joe Biden nominated Lander as Science Advisor to the President and announced that he would elevate the position to a Cabinet-level post.[5] His nomination had been held up possibly due to requests for clarification about his having attended two gatherings where Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy large-scale donor to science who was also a convicted sex offender, was present.[42] On April 29, a confirmation hearing was held in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.[43][44] On May 20, the committee voted to report favorably on the nomination, with five Republican senators voting against.[45] On May 28, 2021, before a Memorial day recess, his nomination was confirmed by voice vote by the full Senate. Lander was sworn in as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy on June 2, 2021. He took his oath using a rare 1492 copy of the Pirkei Avot.[46]

Recognition and service[]

In 1999, Lander received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[47]

In 2004, Lander was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of our time for his work on the HGP. He has appeared in numerous PBS documentaries about genetics. He was ranked #2 on the MIT150 list of MIT's innovators and ideas.[48]

In December 2008, Lander and Harold E. Varmus were named co-chairs of the Obama administration's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. In 2012 he received the Dan David Prize.[49]

Lander is a member of the advisory board to the USA Science and Engineering Festival.[50]

In 2013, Lander was awarded the first Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.[51][52] In 2016, Semantic Scholar AI program ranked him #1 on its list of most influential biomedical researchers.[53]

In 2017, Lander received an honoris causa doctorate from the Université catholique de Louvain.[54] Also in 2017, he received the William Allan Award from the American Society of Human Genetics.[55]

In 2019, he served on the Life Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize. In 2020, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Pontifical Academy of Science.[56] In 2021, Lander, who holds many patents, disclosed ownership of assets worth more than $45 million.[57]

References[]

  1. ^ Facher, Lev (February 1, 2021). "Eric Lander Is Brilliant, Connected, and Controversial. Now Joe Biden Wants Him to 'Reinvigorate' American Science". Stat. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  2. ^ Segre, Julia (1996). Positional cloning of nude, a fork head transcription factor : genetic, physical and transcriptional maps of the region and mutations in the mouse and rat. mit.edu (PhD thesis). MIT. hdl:1721.1/41341.Free to read
  3. ^ Kusumi, Kenro (1997). Positional cloning and characterization of the mouse pudgy locus. mit.edu (PhD thesis). MIT. hdl:1721.1/49612.Free to read
  4. ^ Kamvysselis, Manolis (2003). Computational comparative genomics : genes, regulation, evolution. mit.edu (PhD thesis). MIT. hdl:1721.1/7999. OCLC 53277177. Free to read
  5. ^ a b "Biden picks geneticist as science adviser, elevates position to Cabinet". PBS NewsHour. January 15, 2021.
  6. ^ Facher, Lev, Eric Lander is brilliant, connected, and controversial. Now Joe Biden wants him to ‘reinvigorate’ American science, Stat, February 1, 2021
  7. ^ Nair, P. (2011). "QnAs with Eric S. Lander". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (28): 11319. Bibcode:2011PNAS..10811319N. doi:10.1073/pnas.1106996108. PMC 3136317. PMID 21606349.
  8. ^ Lander, E. S. (2004). "Eric S. Lander". Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. 3 (9): 730. doi:10.1038/nrd1514. PMID 15368656. S2CID 19725860.
  9. ^ "Eric S. Lander, Ph.D. Career Highlights". Howard Hughes Medical Institute. December 30, 2010. Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  10. ^ "Oral History | James D. Watson | Personality & Influence | Eric Lander on Spirituality & Science". Library.cshl.edu. June 2, 2003. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  11. ^ Corry, John (March 25, 1974). "About New York". The New York Times. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  12. ^ Olson, Steve (2005). Count Down: Six Kids Vie for Glory at the World's Toughest Math Competition. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-618-56212-1.
  13. ^ a b c Elmer-DeWitt, Philip (April 26, 2004). "The 2004 TIME 100: Scientists & Thinkers: Eric Lander". Time. Time Inc. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  14. ^ "Eric S. Lander". MIT Department of Biology. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  15. ^ Lander, Eric. On the structure of projective modules (Bachelor thesis). Princeton University. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  16. ^ "Wolfson Alumnus Eric Lander named top scientific adviser by Joe Biden | Wolfson College, Oxford". www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  17. ^ Lander, Eric (1980). Topics in algebraic coding theory (D.Phil. thesis). University of Oxford. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.276073.
  18. ^ a b "Power in Numbers". The New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  19. ^ "Eric S. Lander, Ph.D. Biography and Interview". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  20. ^ a b "Human Genome Project FAQ". Genome.gov. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  21. ^ Venter, J. C. (June 5, 1998). "GENOMICS: Shotgun Sequencing of the Human Genome". Science. 280 (5369): 1540–1542. Bibcode:1998Sci...280.1540.. doi:10.1126/science.280.5369.1540. PMID 9644018. S2CID 31640363.
  22. ^ "Meet Eric Lander, Biden's Pick For Science Adviser And A Polarizing Figure". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  23. ^ "Eric S. Lander Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Lander, E. S.; Linton, M.; Birren, B.; Nusbaum, C.; Zody, C.; Baldwin, J.; Devon, K.; Dewar, K.; Doyle, M.; Fitzhugh, W.; Funke, R.; Gage, D.; Harris, K.; Heaford, A.; Howland, J.; Kann, L.; Lehoczky, J.; Levine, R.; McEwan, P.; McKernan, K.; Meldrim, J.; Mesirov, J. P.; Miranda, C.; Morris, W.; Naylor, J.; Raymond, C.; Rosetti, M.; Santos, R.; Sheridan, A.; et al. (February 2001). "Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome". Nature. 409 (6822): 860–921. doi:10.1038/35057062. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 11237011.
  25. ^ Venter, J. Craig; Adams, Mark D.; Myers, Eugene W.; Li, Peter W.; Mural, Richard J.; Sutton, Granger G.; Smith, Hamilton O.; Yandell, Mark; Evans, Cheryl A.; Holt, Robert A.; Gocayne, Jeannine D. (February 16, 2001). "The Sequence of the Human Genome". Science. 291 (5507): 1304–1351. Bibcode:2001Sci...291.1304V. doi:10.1126/science.1058040. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 11181995.
  26. ^ Lander, E. S. (2011). "Initial impact of the sequencing of the human genome" (PDF). Nature. 470 (7333): 187–197. Bibcode:2011Natur.470..187L. doi:10.1038/nature09792. hdl:1721.1/69154. PMID 21307931. S2CID 4344403.
  27. ^ Chinwalla, A. T.; Waterston, L. L.; Lindblad-Toh, K. D.; Birney, G. A.; Rogers, L. A.; Abril, R. S.; Agarwal, T. A.; Agarwala, L. W.; Ainscough, E. R.; Alexandersson, J. D.; An, T. L.; Antonarakis, W. E.; Attwood, J. O.; Baertsch, M. N.; Bailey, K. H.; Barlow, C. S.; Beck, T. C.; Berry, B.; Birren, J.; Bloom, E.; Bork, R. H.; Botcherby, M. C.; Bray, R. K.; Brent, S. P.; Brown, P.; Brown, E.; Bult, B.; Burton, T.; Butler, D. G.; et al. (2002). "Initial sequencing and comparative analysis of the mouse genome". Nature. 420 (6915): 520–562. Bibcode:2002Natur.420..520W. doi:10.1038/nature01262. PMID 12466850.
  28. ^ "Ciona savignyi Database". Broad.mit.edu. September 10, 2004. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  29. ^ "Tetraodon nigroviridis Database". Broad.mit.edu. September 10, 2004. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  30. ^ "Neurospora crassa Database". Broad.mit.edu. April 9, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  31. ^ "Saccharomyces Genome Database". Yeastgenome.org. February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  32. ^ "Annual Reviews". Choice. Association of College and Research Libraries. 2000.
  33. ^ Eric Lander in Google Scholar
  34. ^ Golub, T. R.; Slonim, D.; Tamayo, P.; Huard, C.; Gaasenbeek, M.; Mesirov, J.; Coller, H.; Loh, M.; Downing, J.; Caligiuri, M. A.; Bloomfield, C. D.; Lander, E. S. (1999). "Molecular Classification of Cancer: Class Discovery and Class Prediction by Gene Expression Monitoring". Science. 286 (5439): 531–537. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.115.7807. doi:10.1126/science.286.5439.531. PMID 10521349.
  35. ^ "MITx: 7.00x: Introduction to Biology - The Secret of Life (March 2013)". edX. March 3, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  36. ^ "Leadership – Foundation Medicine". Foundationmedicine.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  37. ^ Gupta, Piyush B.; Onder, Tamer T.; Jiang, Guozhi; Tao, Kai; Kuperwasser, Charlotte; Weinberg, Robert A.; Lander, Eric S. (November 16, 2010). "News Release - Novel Drugs Targeting Cancer Stem Cells". Cell. 138 (4): 645–659. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2009.06.034. hdl:1721.1/96273. PMC 4892125. PMID 19682730. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  38. ^ Scheck, B (2013). "The innocence project at twenty: an interview with Barry Scheck. Interview by Jane Gitschier". PLOS Genet. 9 (8): e1003692. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1003692. PMC 3738447. PMID 23950733.
  39. ^ "DNA's detective story". The Economist. March 11, 2004.
  40. ^ Mnookin, Jennifer L. (2007). "People V. Castro: Challenging the Forensic Use of DNA Evidence". Journal of Scholarly Perspectives. 3 (1).
  41. ^ "Eric Lander Calls For Officials to Uphold Best Forensic Practices". Innocence Project. April 21, 2015.
  42. ^ Thompson, Alex; Meyer, Theodoric; Levine, Marianne (April 22, 2021). "Biden's top scientist met Jeffrey Epstein twice. It's now complicating his confirmation". Politico. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  43. ^ Mervis, Jeffrey (April 29, 2021). "Biden's nominee for science chief issues apology, defends character at confirmation hearing". Science | AAAS. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  44. ^ "Confirmation Hearing for White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Nominee". C-SPAN. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  45. ^ Arciga, Julia; Din, Benjamin (May 20, 2021). "Biden's top scientist gets OK from Senate committee". Politico. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  46. ^ Tucker, Neely (June 4, 2021). "The White House Scientist and the Ancient Jewish Book | Library of Congress Blog". blogs.loc.gov. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  47. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  48. ^ Allis, Sam; Bray, Hiawatha; Helman, Scott (May 15, 2011). "150 fascinating, fun, important, interesting, lifesaving, life-altering, bizarre and bold ways that MIT has made a difference". Boston.com. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  49. ^ "Eric Lander". The Dan David Prize. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  50. ^ "USA Science and Engineering Festival - Advisors". Usasciencefestival.org. Archived from the original on April 21, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  51. ^ Sapire, Rachel J. (February 21, 2013). "Lander Awarded $3 Million". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  52. ^ Overbye, Dennis (February 20, 2013). "At $3 Million, New Award Gives Medical Researchers a Dose of Celebrity". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  53. ^ "Who's the most influential biomedical scientist? Computer program guided by artificial intelligence says it knows". Science magazine | AAAS. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  54. ^ "Eric Lander, mathematician and geneticist". UCLouvain.
  55. ^ "William Allan Award". ASHG. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  56. ^ "Resignations and Assignments, 25.05.2020" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  57. ^ "Biden's Wealthiest Cabinet Officials: Zients, Lander, Rice Top the List". Wall Street Journal. March 23, 2021.

External links[]

Political offices
Preceded by
Kei Koizumi
Acting
 Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
2021–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Isabel Guzman
as Administrator of the Small Business Administration 		Order of precedence of the United States
as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 		Succeeded by
Ron Klain
as White House Chief of Staff
Retrieved from ""