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Association of Independent Research Institutes (AIRI)
Member News
Release Date: March 26, 2007
CORIELL
INSTITUTE APPOINTS NEW PRESIDENT
Dr. Michael Christman, genetics and genomics expert, to
assume position June 1
 CAMDEN, NJ - Peter Driscoll, Chairman, Board of Trustees of
Coriell Institute for Medical Research, announced today the
appointment of Michael F. Christman, Ph.D. as President and
Chief Executive Officer, effective June 1, 2007. In this
position, Dr. Christman will develop and supervise the
scientific and management operations at Coriell, in support of
its mission and lead a new initiative to identify human genetic
variation that contributes to diseases such as cancer, heart
disease and obesity.
An expert in genetics and genomics, Christman most recently
served as professor and founding chair, Department of Genetics
and Genomics for Boston University School of Medicine. In this
position, he recruited the majority of primary faculty in the
genetics and genomics department and led an international team
of scientists that performed one of the first genome-wide scans
to associate human genetic variation with disease. Christman has
also served as associate professor, Department of Microbiology,
University of Virginia; assistant professor, University of
California at San Francisco, Dept. of Radiation Oncology; and
was a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellow at M.I.T.
"This is an exciting time for Coriell as our exhaustive search
for the best possible candidate who can build upon our solid
worldwide reputation and take us to a new, higher level of
discovery has culminated with the appointment of Dr. Christman,"
said Driscoll. "Dr. Christman's scientific experience in leading
and supervising human genome-related research, combined with his
operations and management experience and vision will take
Coriell to the next level in scientific research initiatives and
beyond."
"I am very excited to lead Coriell Institute to an even greater
level of prominence," said Christman. I look forward to working
in partnership with the board of trustees and the scientific
community to help Coriell contribute more directly to advances
in medical research and gain even greater status as one of the
world's most important research institutes," he said.
Christman received his bachelor's degree in chemistry with
honors from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; a
doctorate in biochemistry from the University of California,
Berkeley; and was selected for the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial
Fund Postdoctoral Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Among Christman's recent research accomplishments are: serving
as principal investigator on first dense genome scan for human
genetic variants that predispose to disease "Netwatch - Best of
the Web in science" (2006); identification of the first common
obesity-predisposing human genetic variant (Herbert et al.
Science) (2006); and initiation of the first genome scan for
disease genes of an African American Cohort - the Howard
University Family Study in Collaboration with Dr. Charles Rotimi
(in progress).
Christman holds professional memberships with the Genetics
Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement
of Science and the NIH Drug Discovery and Experimental
Pharmacology (DMP) Study Section. A frequent lecturer,
Christman most recently provided remarks to the Broad Institute
of Harvard and MIT and a Johns Hopkins sponsored event at the
National Press Club.
The Coriell Institute for Medical Research
is an internationally known, not-for-profit, basic biomedical
research institution. Founded in 1953 by Lewis L. Coriell, M.D.,
Ph.D., the Institute pioneered many cell culture techniques,
which are now standard throughout the world. In addition to
conducting its own research in cancer, human genetic variation,
mechanisms of cellular differentiation, and other genetic
disorders, the Institute maintains the world's largest
collection of human cells available to the
entire scientific community for research. Visit coriell.org for
more information.
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