SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD

The Divergence Scientific Advisory Board is comprised of world-renowned scientists and brings together experts in bioinformatics, nematology, RNA interference, plant biotechnology, and human health, among other disciplines. In total, members of the Scientific Advisory Board have authored over 400 manuscripts and numerous patents.

Sean Eddy, Ph.D. - Chairman
Dr. Eddy is a group leader at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia arm Research Campus near Washington, DC. His research interests are in the development of computational algorithms for genome sequence analysis. He is co-author of the textbook Biological Sequence Analysis: Probabilistic Models of Proteins and Nucleic Acids, and helped create the widely used Pfam database of protein families. Dr. Eddy received a bachelor degree from the California Institute of Technology, a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and a faculty member at the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis. He has consulted and served on advisory boards for several companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector.

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David Bird, Ph.D.
Dr. Bird is Co-Director of The Center for the Biology of Nematode Parasitism, a joint academic-industry center located in North Carolina, and a Professor of Plant Pathology at NC State University. He also holds an International Fellowship at Rothamsted Research, UK, and is Adjunct Professor of Agricultural Biotechnology at Murdoch University, Australia. Dr. Bird serves on several advisory boards, including the Genome Research Laboratory and also the Bioinformatics Research Center, both at NCSU. The author of issued patents, as well as many publications, Dr. Bird is a leading molecular biologist in the field of plant nematology. His main research support has come from the National Science Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the United Soybean Board. Prior to his appointment at North Carolina, Dr. Bird was an Assistant Professor of Nematology at the University of California - Riverside, and worked as a post-doctoral fellow with Donald Riddle, Ph.D. at the University of Missouri. He received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Adelaide, Australia. He has consulted for several major crop protection companies.

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Timothy Geary, Ph.D.
Dr. Geary is Full Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Institute of Parasitology at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His research interests include parasite genomics & proteomics; chemotherapy of parasitic infections; drug resistance in parasites; molecular interactions at the host:parasite interface. Prior to his appointment at McGill, Dr. Geary spent twenty years in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently with Pfizer Animal Health, on work including the molecular identification of drug targets through functional genomic analysis of nematode physiology and the subsequent engineering of recombinant systems for high-throughput screening for new antiparasitic leads. Dr. Geary received a bachelor degree from University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from University of Michigan.

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Ernest Jaworski, Ph.D.
Dr. Jaworski is the retired Director of Plant Biotechnology at Monsanto Company in St. Louis and a winner of the 1998 National Medal of Technology for his pioneering work in the application of biotechnology to agriculture. He had a long and distinguished career with Monsanto beginning in 1952 and including significant work in herbicide and fungicide chemistry programs. His most remarkable achievement was his development of Monsanto's plant biotechnology program in the 1980's, at which time, he recruited and directed the teams responsible for developing insect resistant (BT) and glyphosate resistant (Roundup Ready) crops. Dr. Jaworski has also served as the interim Director of the St. Louis-based Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and was one of the founders of Oxford Glycosystems, Limited. Dr. Jaworski received a Ph.D. and a M.S. in biochemistry from Oregon State University and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Minnesota.

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Craig Mello, Ph.D.
Dr. Mello is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and The Blais Professor in Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts. Known as a technological innovator in the field of C. elegans molecular genetics, he is the co-discoverer of RNA interference (RNAi) and holds the first submitted patent on the use of double-stranded RNA for gene knockout. RNAi, a technique that is revolutionizing functional genomics and has potential direct therapeutic use, was named the 2002 Breakthrough of the Year by Science magazine. In 2006, Dr. Mello and Dr. Andrew Fire were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of RNAi. Dr. Mello uses C. elegans to study both the biochemical pathway responsible for RNAi and the regulation of gene expression in early embryogenesis and has numerous publications including over 20 in the prestigious journals Science, Nature, Cell, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Prior to joining the University of Massachusetts, he was a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Jim Priess at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Mello received a Ph.D. from Harvard University and a Sc.B. from Brown University. He also conducted graduate studies in the laboratory of David Hirsh, Ph.D., at the University of Colorado. Dr. Mello's pioneering research on RNAi, has also been recognized with the prestigious National Academy of Sciences Molecular Biology Award, the Wiley Prize in the Biomedical Sciences, The MGH Warren Triennial Prize, the Rosenstiel Award, the Gairdner Foundation International Award, the Massry Prize, the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, and the first Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research.

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Gilbert Omenn, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Omenn is a Professor of Internal Medicine, Human Genetics and Public Health at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. A prominent leader in medical research and public health, he served as Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Michigan Health System from 1997 to 2002. He was formerly Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he was also a Professor of Medicine and Environmental Health. He is a longtime director of Amgen Inc. and of Rohm & Haas Company. He is a member of the Council and leader of the Plasma Proteome Project for the international Human Proteome Organization. Dr. Omenn has authored 375 research papers and scientific reviews and authored/edited 17 books on topics including chemoprevention of cancers, genetic predispositions to environmental and occupational hazards, science-based risk analysis, and health policy and promotion. During his academic career, he has been principal investigator of the beta-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET); director of the Center for Health Promotion in Older Adults; a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator; and a founding director of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program. In government service, Dr. Omenn has chaired the Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management ("Omenn Commission"), served on the National Commission on the Environment , chaired the NAS/NRC/IOM Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, and served as Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President during the Carter Administration. Dr. Omenn received an M.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Medical School, a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Washington, and a B.A. from Princeton.

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Tim Schedl, Ph.D.
Dr. Schedl is a Professor in the Department of Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and an established expert in C. elegans reproductive biology and genetics. He is the discoverer of the first known tumor suppressor gene in C. elegans (gld-1) and is currently investigating the molecular mechanisms which control germline development and meiosis. Dr. Schedl has authored more than 40 journal articles and has been the recipient of numerous grants, including support from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Before joining the faculty at Washington University, he was a post-doctoral fellow with Judith Kimble Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin where he did pioneering work uncovering the genetic pathway responsible for germline sex determination in C. elegans. Dr. Schedl received a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, working in the laboratory of W.F. Dove, and a B.A. in chemistry and biology from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

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Wilfred van der Donk, Ph.D.
Dr. van der Donk is a William H. and Janet Lycan Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests are in the areas of chemical biology and include catalytic mechanisms of enzymes and their inhibition and antibiotic biosynthetic pathways. He received his BS and MS from Leiden University, the Netherlands, his Ph.D. from Rice University, and did postdoctoral studies at MIT with JoAnne Stubbe before starting his independent career at the University of Illinois. He is a Burroughs-Wellcome New Investigator in the Pharmacological Sciences, an Arnold and Mabel Beckman Young Investigator, a fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar. In 2004 he received the Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry. In 2006 Dr. van der Donk was the recipient of the Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society.

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