Speaker Details

Biography

Gilbert Omenn is Professor of Internal Medicine, Human Genetics, and Public Health and Director of the Center for Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics at the University of Michigan. He served as Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and as Chief Executive Officer of the University of Michigan Health System from 1997 to 2002. He was Dean of the School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine and Environmental Health, University of Washington, Seattle, 1982-1997. His research interests include cancer proteomics, chemoprevention of cancers, public health genetics, science-based risk analysis, and health policy. He was principal investigator of the beta-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET) of preventive agents against lung cancer and heart disease; director of the Center for Health Promotion in Older Adults; and creator of a university-wide initiative on Public Health Genetics in Ethical, Legal, and Policy Context while at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He served as Associate Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Associate Director, Office of Management and Budget, in the Executive Office of the President in the Carter Administration. He was in the intramural program of NIH in the Anfinsen Lab in 1967-69. He has had NIH grants over four decades. He served on the National Cancer Advisory Board, the NHLBI Advisory Council, the Society of Fellows for the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the Director’s Advisory Committee of the CDC. He is a director of Amgen Inc. and Armune Biosciences Inc. He leads the Human Proteome Project for the international Human Proteome Organization and is president of US HUPO. He was president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2006. He was elected an Ambassador of the Research!America Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health, serves on the advisory board for the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Medical School, and is active in numerous international health and science policy initiatives. Omenn is the author of 518 research papers and scientific reviews and author/editor of 18 books. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association of American Physicians, and the American College of Physicians. He chaired the presidential/congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management (“Omenn Commission”), served on the National Commission on the Environment, and chaired the NAS/NAE/IOM Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy. He received the John W. Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award from the White House Fellows Association in 2004 and the Walsh McDermott Medal from the Institute of Medicine in 2008 for long-term contributions to the IOM and the National Academy of Sciences. He is active in cultural and educational organizations, a musician and tennis player. Omenn received his B.A. summa cum laude from Princeton, M.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School, and Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Washington. Website: www.med.umich.edu/omenn.

Abstract

ESSENTIALS OF LIFE: NEW CONCEPTS IN THE LIFE SCIENCES

Once it was settled that the molecules of heredity were DNA, rather than proteins, the central dogma of molecular biology was the flow of information from the DNA double-helix of Watson & Crick to RNA messengers to a remarkable array of proteins. Ribosomes act as factories for protein synthesis;their three-dimensional structure has been solved. Many surprises have arisen in recent decades. Reverse transcriptase produces DNA from RNA. Some viruses use RNA as the genetic message. A crucial part of the Human Genome Project was the inclusion of analyses of many other organisms, permitting important conclusions from comparative genomics and evolutionary biology. Less than 2 percent of the DNA sequence codes for all of the proteins in humans; instead of estimates of 50,000 to 100,000 protein-coding genes, results show that 20,300 are sufficient to generate the complexity and dynamics of humans. Yet there may be one million or more protein isoforms due to genetic variants, post-translational modifications, and especially alternative splicing. The other 98 percent of the DNA is not just "junk" or spacers; a host of DNA sequences and non-coding RNAs drive the critical function of regulating gene expression throughout development, in response to environmental cues, and in association with a huge variety of disease processes.I will discuss the surprises and complexity of living things, the links between genes and proteins, examples of genomic analysis of obesity and of prostate cancers, and the recent launch of The Human Proteome Project.