Speakers

Dr. Harris Lewin is the Robert & Rosabel Osborne Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor of Evolution and Ecology at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), where he also holds a joint appointment in the School of Veterinary Medicine, is a fellow of the John Muir Institute for the Environment and serves as the Chair of the Earth BioGenome Project Working Group. From 2011–2016, he served as the UC Davis Vice Chancellor for Research. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and was awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture in 2011 for his research in cattle genomics. Lewin is a leader in the field of comparative mammalian genomics and has made major contributions to our understanding of chromosome evolution and its relationship to adaptation, speciation, and the origins of disease. Previously, he was a professor at the University of Illinois and served as the founding director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.

Dr. William Murphy is the James E. Womack University Professor of Genetics in the Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences and the Assistant Dean for Research & Graduate Studies at the VMBS. Well-known for his contributions to comparative mammalian genomics, molecular phylogeny, biogeography, and molecular evolution, including gene mapping, sex chromosome genetics, speciation, and mechanisms of male hybrid sterility, his work has helped redefine the mammalian tree of life and transform our understanding of biology, especially through his research on the domestic cat genome. Some of his most transformative work has come from his participation in the Zoonomia Project, an international consortium of scientists who use the largest mammalian genomic dataset in history to answer questions about human evolution as it relates to overall mammal evolution. Murphy was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2024. 

Dr. Leif Andersson is a professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) and a fellow of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study. He also holds professorships in functional genomics in the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology at Uppsala University and in molecular animal genetics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala. He is among the world’s most renowned scholars in the genomic and molecular study of domestic animals and has carved a scientific niche by approaching farm animals as model organisms. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Andersson was awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture in 2014, the Thureus Prize in Natural History and Medicine from the Royal Society of Sciences, the Linneus Prize in Zoology from the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund, the Hilda and Alfred Eriksson’s Prize in Medicine from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the Olof Rudbeck Prize from Uppsala Medical Society.

Dr. Michel Georges is a professor of genetics and genomics at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Liège in Belgium. From 1989 to 1993, he was a senior scientist, then director of research at Genmark Inc., and an adjunct professor in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Since 1994, he has headed of the Unit of Animal Genomics at the University of Liège, where he has played an instrumental role in establishing the GIGA Research Institute. Georges was awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture in 2007, the Francqui Prize in Biological and Medical Sciences in 2008, and was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2013.

Dr. Elaine Ostrander is the Chief and Distinguished Senior Investigator of the Cancer Genetics and Comparative Genomics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute of NIH. She also heads the Section of Comparative Genetics. The Ostrander lab has championed the canine for the study of complex traits by building maps, organizing sequencing of the canine genome, and studying population structure, domestication, and performance. In doing so, they demonstrated the power of breed structure in mapping traits that have proven intractable through human studies. The lab’s ability to map the genetic underpinnings of body size, pelage, leg length, skull shape, and other phenotypes has provided unique insights into the fundamental biology of natural phenotypic variation in mammals. Ostrander has published over 400 papers and won numerous awards, including the Genetics Society of America Medal, the Novitski Award for innovation and creativity and, in 2019, was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Richard Gibbs holds the Wofford Cain Chair in Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and a fellow of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University. He is the founder and director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center (HGSC), established at BCM in 1996. The HGSC has a core mission of advancing medical care through research and translation of genomics and is one of the five worldwide sites selected to undertake and complete the Human Genome Project. The group subsequently collaborated to sequence the genomes of many key species, including Drosophila melanogaster, Brown Norway rat, Rhesus macaque, cattle, Dictyostelium discoideum, sea urchin, and honeybee. His research group generated the first comprehensive map of human genetic variation. The HapMap project was the first to demonstrate the utility of diagnostic whole genome sequencing to guide effective clinical treatments of genetic diseases. The HGSC now provides full genome sequencing to hundreds of individual patients each month. 

Dr. Brian Davis is an assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, with a joint appointment in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, and is the director of the Veterinary Medical Biorepository (biobank) in the Office of Veterinary Clinical Investigation at the VMBS. His research focuses on the field of comparative genomics, and he has been instrumental in addressing hereditary diseases in dogs, cats, and other animals with the potential to translate these findings into treatments for similar human conditions.

Dr. Danika Bannasch is a professor in the Department of Population, Health & Reproduction, associate director of the Center for Companion Animal Health, and associate dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. Her research is focused on the genetic basis of inherited diseases in animals, particularly in dogs and horses, as models of human inherited diseases.

Dr. Gus Cothran is a professor emeritus at the VMBS with a focus on equine population genetics, conservation genetics, and genetic diversity of both domestic and wild horse breeds worldwide. He previously served as the director of the Equine Parentage Testing and Research Laboratory at the University of Kentucky and, more recently, as the director of the Animal Genetics Laboratory at Texas A&M. He served four terms as the chair of the International Society of Animal Genetics (ISAG) standing committee for Thoroughbred DNA Typing Standardization and is a past chair of the Equine Standing Committee of ISAG. In addition, he has served on the Deer Genetics Standing Committee and the ISAG/FAO Standing Committee for Domestic Animal Genetic Diversity.

Dr. Molly McCue is a professor and former associate dean of research in the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota. She has established herself as a leader in the field of veterinary genetics, with a particular focus on metabolic disorders, performance traits, and inherited diseases in horses and dogs.

Dr. Terje Raudsepp is a professor in the Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences and the director of the Molecular Cytogenetics Laboratory at the VMBS. She specializes in animal cytogenetics and genomics with a particular focus on equine and comparative genomics. Known for her expertise in chromosome biology, she has made significant contributions to understanding the structure, function, and evolution of animal genomes, particularly in domestic and wild species of equids and camelids.

Dr. Stephen O’Brien is a leading molecular biologist, population geneticist, genetic epidemiologist, and dedicated conservationist who uses molecular genetics and bioinformatics tools to help protect endangered species and to resolve genetic determinants of complex diseases such as HIV–AIDS and cancers. He served as founder and chief of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the NIH from 1986–2012. In 2012, he founded the Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics at St. Petersburg State University, Russia and served as Chief Scientific Officer. In 2013, he joined Nova Southeastern University in Florida, where he applies his expertise to genome bioinformatics of marine vertebrate and invertebrate species. His scientific contributions have been recognized by his election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the Russian Academy of Sciences.