Dr. Claire Marie Fraser (born 1955)

Claire M. Fraser (born 1955) is an American genome scientist and microbiologist who has worked in microbial genomics and genome medicine.[1] Her research has contributed to the understanding of the diversity and evolution of microbial life. Fraser is the director of the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, where she holds the Dean's Endowed Professorship in the School of Medicine. She has joint faculty appointments at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the Departments of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology. In 2019, she began serving a one-year term as President-Elect for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which will be followed by a one-year term as AAAS president starting in February 2020 and a one-year term as chair of the Board of Directors in February 2021.[2]

Early life[edit]

Fraser was raised by a high school principal and an elementary school teacher in Saugus, MA a suburb of Boston, MA.[1] She performed well at school and was always interested in learning.[1] She became interested in science after being taught biology in high school.[1] At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), during her senior year, she performed independent research in a research lab.[1]

Education[edit]

Fraser received her B.S. degree in Biology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1977 and her Ph.D. degree in Pharmacology at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1981 with a thesis entitled "Autoantibodies and monoclonal antibodies to ℓgbℓs-adrenergic receptors : their role in receptor characterization and human physiology".[3]

Career[edit]

Fraser has authored more than 300 publications with more than 50,000 citations, edited four books, and served on the editorial boards of nine scientific journals.[4] She is included on 23 issued patents and 19 published patents[4]

Genomics[edit]

From 1998 to 2007, Fraser was president and director of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Rockville, MD, and led the teams that sequenced the genomes of bacterial and parasitic pathogens and the first model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana.[5][6][7][8] In 1995, Fraser was part of the team to first sequence the complete genome of a free-living organism—Haemophilus influenzae—the bacterium that causes lower respiratory tract infections and meningitis in infants and young children.[9] In 2007, Fraser joined the University of Maryland School of Medicine as director of the new Institute for Genome Sciences.[10]

Fraser's work on the 2001 Amerithrax investigation led to the identification of four genetic mutations in the anthrax spores that enabled the FBI to trace the material back to its original source.[8] This effort catalyzed the development of the field of microbial forensics. She is an expert in microbial forensics and the growing concern about dual uses – research that can provide knowledge and technologies that could be misapplied.[11]

Fraser has led NIAID-funded efforts in the genomics of infectious disease, including the current iteration of the Genome Centers for Infectious Disease.[12] Past and current studies funded through these initiatives aim to explore the dynamic interactions between high-priority pathogens, hosts, their microbiota, the immune system, and the environment, with the goal to provide a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of infectious disease with hypothesis-driven research using high-throughput "-omics" technologies.[13][14][15][16][17] These projects both stimulate and enhance ongoing technology development in technology and data cores.[18][19][20]

Fraser's current research is part of the Human Microbiome Project and is focused on how the structure and function of microbial communities in the human gastrointestinal tract change in association with diseases such as obesity and inflammatory bowel disease, and how these communities respond to interventions including oral vaccination and probiotics administration.[21][22]

Advisory panels and editorial boards[edit]

In 2019, Fraser is serving a one-year term as President-Elect for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which will be followed by a one-year term as AAAS president starting in February 2020 and a one-year term as chair of the Board of Directors in February 2021.[2] In accepting the nomination to be a candidate for AAAS President, Fraser expressed a desire to use this position to be an ardent spokesperson for science and to promote application of the scientific method to the solution of our most pressing problems, including climate change, antimicrobial resistance as well as food security, water security, and energy security.[23] She notes that "our ability to respond to these challenges has been hampered to a considerable extent by a lack of adequate funding, a tendency to fund 'safer' research projects, and a relative lack of public trust in science.".[23]

Fraser has been an editor for journals mBio, Journal of Bacteriology, Microbial Genomics (journal), Molecular Case Studies, and DNA and Cell Biology.[24][25][26][27][28] Since 2006, Fraser has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), a Fortune 500 medical technology company.[29]

Awards and nominations

2002 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award [30]
2004 AAAS Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science [31]
2005 Promega Biotechnology Award, the American Society for Microbiology [32]
2006 Charles Thom Award Society for Industrial Microbiology [33]
2010 Maryland Women's Hall of Fame[34]
2010 Greater Baltimore Council's Leadership in Bioscience Award[35]
2010 Women in Technology – Health IT Award[36]
2011 Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame[37]
2011 Elected into the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies[38]
2013 Influential Marylander's Award, Daily Record[39]
2014 Maryland International Business Leadership Award[40]
2014 Thomson Reuter's The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds, Microbiology[41]
2015 Dean's Endowed Professor in the School of Medicine[42]

Personal life

Fraser was previously married to Craig Venter. Since 2013, she has been married to Jack Kammer, an author who examines gender issues from a male point of view.[43] Fraser has owned several standard poodles, including Shadow whose genome was sequenced.[44]

References

a b c d e Katherine Lee (December 17, 2018). ""Claire M. Fraser Is a Pioneer Who's Just Getting Started"". Retrieved March 31, 2019.
a b "Microbial Genomics Trailblazer Claire M. Fraser Named AAAS President-Elect".
^ "Claire Fraser-Liggett".
a b "Google Scholar".
^ Fraser, C. M.; Gocayne, J. D.; et al. (1995). "The minimal gene complement of Mycoplasma genitalium". Science. 270 (5235): 397–403. Bibcode:1995Sci...270..397F. doi:10.1126/science.270.5235.397. PMID 7569993. S2CID 29825758.
^ Fraser, C. M.; Casjens, S.; et al. (1997). "Genomic sequence of a Lyme disease spirochaete, Borrelia burgdorferi". Nature. 390 (6660): 580–586. Bibcode:1997Natur.390..580F. doi:10.1038/37551. PMID 9403685. S2CID 4388492.
^ Fraser, C. M.; Norris, S. J.; et al. (1998). "Complete genome sequence of Treponema pallidum, the syphilis spirochete". Science. 281 (5375): 375–388. Bibcode:1998Sci...281..375F. doi:10.1126/science.281.5375.375. PMID 9665876.
a b Rasko, D. A.; Worsham, P. L.; Abshire, T. G.; Stanley, S. T.; Bannan, J. D.; Wilson, M. R.; Langham, R. J.; Decker, R. S.; Jiang, L.; Read, T. D.; Phillippy, A. M.; Salzberg, S. L.; Pop, M.; Van Ert, M. N.; Kenefic, L. J.; Keim, P. S.; Fraser-Liggett, C. M.; Ravel, J. (2011). "Bacillus anthracis comparative genome analysis in support of the Amerithrax investigation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (12): 5027–5032. Bibcode:2011PNAS..108.5027R. doi:10.1073/pnas.1016657108. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3064363. PMID 21383169.
^ Fleischmann, R.; Adams, M.; White, O; Clayton, R.; Kirkness, E.; Kerlavage, A.; Bult, C.; Tomb, J.; Dougherty, B.; Merrick, J.; al., e. (1995). "Whole-genome random sequencing and assembly of Haemophilus influenzae Rd". Science. 269 (5223): 496–512. Bibcode:1995Sci...269..496F. doi:10.1126/science.7542800. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 7542800.
^ "University of Maryland School of Medicine". somvweb.som.umaryland.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-03-27. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
^ Fraser, Claire M.; Dando, Malcolm R. (2001). "Genomics and future biological weapons: the need for preventive action by the biomedical community". Nature Genetics. 29 (3): 253–256. doi:10.1038/ng763. ISSN 1061-4036. PMID 11687792. S2CID 11211547.
^ "Genomic Centers for Infectious Diseases (GCID)". Retrieved March 30, 2019.
^ "Overview, Host, Pathogen and the Microbiome: Determinants of Disease Outcome". Retrieved March 30, 2019.
^ Richter, Taylor K. S.; Hazen, Tracy H.; Lam, Diana; Coles, Christian L.; Seidman, Jessica C.; You, Yaqi; Silbergeld, Ellen K.; Fraser, Claire M.; Rasko, David A.; Bradford, Patricia A. (2018). "Temporal Variability of Escherichia coli Diversity in the Gastrointestinal Tracts of Tanzanian Children with and without Exposure to Antibiotics". mSphere. 3 (6). doi:10.1128/mSphere.00558-18. ISSN 2379-5042. PMC 6222053. PMID 30404930.
^ Dara, Antoine; Drábek, Elliott F.; Travassos, Mark A.; Moser, Kara A.; Delcher, Arthur L.; Su, Qi; Hostelley, Timothy; Coulibaly, Drissa; Daou, Modibo; Dembele, Ahmadou; Diarra, Issa; Kone, Abdoulaye K.; Kouriba, Bourema; Laurens, Matthew B.; Niangaly, Amadou; Traore, Karim; Tolo, Youssouf; Fraser, Claire M.; Thera, Mahamadou A.; Djimde, Abdoulaye A.; Doumbo, Ogobara K.; Plowe, Christopher V.; Silva, Joana C. (2017). "New var reconstruction algorithm exposes high var sequence diversity in a single geographic location in Mali". Genome Medicine. 9 (1): 30. doi:10.1186/s13073-017-0422-4. ISSN 1756-994X. PMC 5368897. PMID 28351419.
^ Chibucos, Marcus C.; Soliman, Sameh; Gebremariam, Teclegiorgis; Lee, Hongkyu; Daugherty, Sean; Orvis, Joshua; Shetty, Amol C.; Crabtree, Jonathan; Hazen, Tracy H.; Etienne, Kizee A.; Kumari, Priti; O’Connor, Timothy D.; Rasko, David A.; Filler, Scott G.; Fraser, Claire M.; Lockhart, Shawn R.; Skory, Christopher D.; Ibrahim, Ashraf S.; Bruno, Vincent M. (2016). "An integrated genomic and transcriptomic survey of mucormycosis-causing fungi". Nature Communications. 7 (1): 12218. Bibcode:2016NatCo...712218C. doi:10.1038/ncomms12218. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 4961843. PMID 27447865.
^ Sahl, Jason W.; Sistrunk, Jeticia R.; Fraser, Claire M.; et al. (2015). "Examination of the Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Population Structure during Human Infection". mBio. 6 (3): e00501. doi:10.1128/mBio.00501-15. ISSN 2150-7511. PMC 4462620. PMID 26060273.
^ Chung, Matthew; Teigen, Laura; Liu, Hong; Libro, Silvia; Shetty, Amol; Kumar, Nikhil; Zhao, Xuechu; Bromley, Robin E.; Tallon, Luke J.; Sadzewicz, Lisa; Fraser, Claire M.; Rasko, David A.; Filler, Scott G.; Foster, Jeremy M.; Michalski, Michelle L.; Bruno, Vincent M.; Dunning Hotopp, Julie C. (2018). "Targeted enrichment outperforms other enrichment techniques and enables more multi-species RNA-Seq analyses". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 13377. Bibcode:2018NatSR...813377C. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31420-7. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6127098. PMID 30190541.
^ Robinson, Kelly M.; Hawkins, Aziah S.; Santana-Cruz, Ivette; Adkins, Ricky S.; Shetty, Amol C.; Nagaraj, Sushma; Sadzewicz, Lisa; Tallon, Luke J.; Rasko, David A.; Fraser, Claire M.; Mahurkar, Anup; Silva, Joana C.; Dunning Hotopp, Julie C. (2017). "Aligner optimization increases accuracy and decreases compute times in multi-species sequence data". Microbial Genomics. 3 (9): e000122. doi:10.1099/mgen.0.000122. ISSN 2057-5858. PMC 5643015. PMID 29114401.
^ Kumar, Nikhil; Lin, Mingqun; Zhao, Xuechu; Ott, Sandra; Santana-Cruz, Ivette; Daugherty, Sean; Rikihisa, Yasuko; Sadzewicz, Lisa; Tallon, Luke J.; Fraser, Claire M.; Dunning Hotopp, Julie C. (2016). "Efficient Enrichment of Bacterial mRNA from Host-Bacteria Total RNA Samples". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 34850. Bibcode:2016NatSR...634850K. doi:10.1038/srep34850. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5054355. PMID 27713560.
^ Zhang, Yan; Brady, Arthur; Jones, Cheron; Song, Yang; Darton, Thomas C.; Jones, Claire; Blohmke, Christoph J.; Pollard, Andrew J.; Magder, Laurence S.; Fasano, Alessio; Sztein, Marcelo B.; Fraser, Claire M.; Dominguez Bello, Maria Gloria (2018). "Compositional and Functional Differences in the Human Gut Microbiome Correlate with Clinical Outcome following Infection with Wild-Type Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi". mBio. 9 (3). doi:10.1128/mBio.00686-18. ISSN 2150-7511. PMC 5941076. PMID 29739901.
^ Eloe-Fadrosh, Emiley A.; Brady, Arthur; Crabtree, Jonathan; Drabek, Elliott F.; Ma, Bing; Mahurkar, Anup; Ravel, Jacques; Haverkamp, Miriam; Fiorino, Anne-Maria; Botelho, Christine; Andreyeva, Irina; Hibberd, Patricia L.; Fraser, Claire M.; McFall-Ngai, Margaret J. (2015). "Functional Dynamics of the Gut Microbiome in Elderly People during Probiotic Consumption". mBio. 6 (2). doi:10.1128/mBio.00231-15. ISSN 2150-7511. PMC 4453556. PMID 25873374.
a b University of Maryland School of Medicine. "UMSOM's Claire Fraser appointed president-elect of AAAS". Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ "mBio Board of Editors". Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ "Journal of Bacteriology Masthead" (PDF). January 2005. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ ""Microbial Genomics Editorial Board"". Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ "About Cold Spring Harbor Molecular Case Studies". Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ "DNA and Cell Biology About This Journal". Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ "BD Board of Directors Elects Dr. Claire M. Fraser-Liggett". Retrieved March 30, 2019.
^ "The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award Laureates" (PDF). US Department of Energy.
^ "TIGR's Fraser, Salzberg Honored As AAAS Fellows".
^ "TIGR President Wins ASM's Promega Biotechnology Research Award". June 6, 2005.
^ "Charles Thom Award and Lecture".
^ "Claire Fraser-Liggett to be Inducted in Maryland Women's Hall of Fame". March 19, 2010.
^ "Two firms, two university programs win GBC's 2010 Maryland Bioscience Awards".
^ "Women in Technology Announces Winners for Its Eleventh Annual Leadership Award".
^ "Alumni Hall of Fame".
^ "IOM Elects 65 New Members, Five Foreign Associates". October 17, 2011.
^ "Influential Marylander Honorees". 14 February 2019.
^ "2014 Awards".
^ "The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds 2014" (PDF).
^ "Claire Fraser Named the Inaugural Dean's Endowed Professor". December 9, 2015.
^ ""Amazon Jack Kammer"". Amazon. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ ""Venter, Fraser Use Pet Poodle for Celera/TIGR Dog Genome Project"". May 10, 2002. Retrieved March 31, 2019.

External links

https://www.aaas.org/membership/member-spotlight/claire-m-fraser-pioneer-whos-just-getting-started

2018-10-17-aaas-org-member-spotlight-claire-m-fraser-pioneer-whos-just-getting-started.pdf

2018-10-17-aaas-org-member-spotlight-claire-m-fraser-pioneer-whos-just-getting-started-img-1.jpg

Claire M. Fraser Is a Pioneer Who’s Just Getting Started

by Katherine Lee

Claire M. Fraser. <br>Credit: University of Maryland<br>School of Medicine

Few scientists can be credited with launching a new field of study; Claire M. Fraser, Director of the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of them.

A microbiologist and geneticist who is regarded as a pioneer in genomic medicine, Fraser has a bio that is characterized by a list of achievements and distinctions that are as numerous as they are noteworthy. One the most notable among her many estimable successes is a discovery that launched a new scientific discipline called microbial genomics: In 1995, Fraser was part of the team at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), a nonprofit research institute where Fraser served as Director from 1998 until 2007, that sequenced the complete genetic code of a free-living organism — Haemophilus influenzae, which causes ear or sinus infections, lower respiratory tract infections, and meningitis in children.

This discovery was nothing short of a breakthrough that changed microbiology forever. Using genomics tools, researchers can now delve into investigations such as bacterial evolution or outbreaks of bacterial infections. Scientists are able to explore questions such as the control of gene expression and the interaction of proteins within microbial cells. Genomic information can provide scientists with crucial information that may aid in the development of vaccines and other advancements.

Fraser and her team at TIGR also sequenced the bacterium that causes syphilis, as well as those responsible for Lyme disease, cholera, chlamydia, and other diseases, in addition to a number of important environmental microbes. Fraser even helped identify the source of the deadly 2001 anthrax attack which terrorized our nation.

In 2007, Fraser launched IGS at the University of Maryland. Fraser’s research is now focused primarily on the human gut microbiota in health and a variety of diseases.

Fraser is also a candidate for AAAS President-elect — a nomination that she said she was honored to receive. The experience of having previously served on the AAAS Board cemented her appreciation of the critically important work AAAS does to promote and champion science, said Fraser. Of her nomination, Fraser said, “First, it’s a tremendous honor; AAAS is a critically important organization.” According to Fraser, organizations like AAAS are more crucial today than ever because the problems we face today go beyond, say, just securing funding for research. “In the current political climate, one of the biggest challenges that we as a society face is non-believers and naysayers,” said Fraser. The challenge, said Fraser, is to recognize the vehement anti-science sentiment that currently exists, acknowledge that science is under attack, and find ways to support science and educate the public.

If elected, Fraser sees one of her roles as not only a champion of science but a negotiator of sorts. “I’ve been pretty good at identifying ways to get people to agree to common interests,” said Fraser. Aside from her desire to help promote science, another reason that prompted her to accept the nomination to be a candidate for AAAS President was her desire to express a karmic gratitude. “I’ve had such phenomenal opportunities,” said Fraser. “For everything science has been for me, I’m trying to give back.”

As with many leaders in science, Fraser’s love of discovery and learning was something that took root in her childhood. Both of her parents worked in public education — her father was a high school principal and her mother was an elementary school teacher — and Fraser was inspired to follow in their footsteps. “They both seemed to enjoy their work and I thought, ‘I’ll be a teacher,’” said Fraser. As a child growing up in a suburb of Boston, Fraser loved learning, and was the type of kid who looked forward to going back to school in the fall. A straight-A student, Fraser was particularly inspired by a high school biology teacher, who ignited her lifelong passion for science.

Fraser had an inkling that she wanted to work in biological sciences when she grew up, but she didn’t know anyone who had a career in research. “I thought I’d have to be a doctor,” said Fraser. She attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), in Troy, New York, where she reveled in the fact that everybody was interested in math, science, and engineering.

There, in her senior year, she had an opportunity to work in a research lab on her own project. “I absolutely loved it,” said Fraser. “I spent every spare moment in the lab.” Thus, she sought out a graduate program and after graduating from RPI in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, Fraser entered the State University of New York-Buffalo to pursue a Ph.D. in pharmacology.

One of the labs she worked in while at SUNY Buffalo was that of a young assistant professor, J. Craig Venter. There, Fraser studied receptor proteins using scientific techniques based on immunology and tissue culture — an endeavor that her thesis committee was pessimistic about because they doubted it would work. Venter, who later became Fraser’s first husband, encouraged her to follow her instincts, and she learned a valuable lesson from this experience: to not be afraid of taking new approaches.

After Fraser received her Ph.D. from SUNY Buffalo in 1981, she continued to work on the biology of G protein-coupled receptors, and she and her then-husband eventually went on to continue this work at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1984.

When Venter left the NIH to found TIGR in 1992, Fraser followed him there, and served as TIGR’s vice president of research. There, the entire TIGR team worked to sequence the complete chromosome of Haemophilus influenza. “Nobody thought it could be done,” said Fraser. “It was a game-changer.” At TIGR, Fraser continued to focus on microbes, both those that cause disease and those that are found in unique environments.

She left TIGR in 2007, partly for personal reasons (she and Venter divorced in 2005), but also for professional ones, and launched IGS. “It was wonderful that my colleagues and I were able to drive the field while we were at TIGR,” said Fraser. “But all of us felt a bit restless; we didn’t have access on a daily basis to clinical colleagues. We couldn’t walk down the hall and meet and brainstorm.” IGS gave Fraser a new way of working with fellow scientists, to make use of each person’s expertise to enhance a project. “There is such extraordinary science that can be done through collaboration,” said Fraser. “There is nothing more beautiful than collaboration in which everybody brings expertise to the table and mutual respect for all partners.”

One example of such a collaboration of experts — say, microbiologists, neurologists, and clinicians—cited by Fraser is a meeting of the minds over an illness such as Alzheimer’s disease. “It has been postulated that some component of Alzheimer’s disease may be infectious in origin,” noted Fraser. “Bacteria associated with periodontal disease have been found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.”

Fraser’s current research is focused on the function and structure of human gut microbiota (the collection of all the organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses that share our body space). For the past decade, Fraser has been working almost exclusively on the human GI tract and the potential of microbiome studies. (Microbiome is the collection of all the organisms and their collective genetic material.) “The potential of microbiome studies is enormous,” said Fraser. One of the most important contributions gut microbes make to health is by keeping inflammation under control, said Fraser. And inflammation, said Fraser, is a component of almost every chronic disease.

Given the important role gut microbes can play in our health, said Fraser, food can be regarded as medicine. “We’re feeding all the microbes in our GI tract ecosystem,” said Fraser. “When we feed the microbes crap, we hurt the ecosystem.”

When things get out of whack in the GI tract, it may have an impact beyond the gut to everything from mood, immune system function, and behavior.

“One of the new ways I think about health and disease is based upon my research for the past ten years,” said Fraser. “One of the things western medicine doesn’t focus on enough is health and wellness.”

As with her seminal work sequencing the genes of disease-causing bacteria, Fraser is still forging ahead into ground-breaking research that may have widespread implications. With her keen mind and formidable instincts for science exploration at work on these inquiries, humankind is sure to benefit from what she finds next.

Date

Wed, 10/17/2018 - 12:00

https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/015200/015241/html/15241bio.html

2010-est-msa-maryland-gov-megafile-msa-speccol-sc3500-015200-15241bio.pdf

Archives of Maryland

(Biographical Series)

Claire M. Fraser, Ph.D.
MSA SC 3520-15241

Biography:

Dr. Claire M. Fraser has had a profound impact on the field of research science. Her study and leadership in microbiology and related subjects has been groundbreaking. However, Dr. Fraser is not only a superb and influential scientist; she is an individual who cares deeply about the impact her work has on the world, choosing to study aspects of science that relate to diseases which may one day result in methods for their cures or prevention. In her career thus far, she has written hundreds of articles, served on numerous committees, worked on several editorial boards, as well as served as the head of two leading research institutions. As Paul Reaburn of BusinessWeek put it, she has achieved more than “most scientists…in a lifetime”1

Claire M. Fraser was born on November 5, 1955, in Boston, Massachusetts.2 Growing up, Fraser lived with her parents in Saugus, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Both of her parents worked in the field of education, and she developed a love for science and learning at a young age. When Fraser entered high school this love for science, particularly biology, grew. She says that during that period of her life she gained an understanding of the human body as a “beautiful machine” and wanted to attain a greater knowledge of how the pieces work together.3

From high school, Fraser went on to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in New York, majoring in biology. In spite of the fact that she was an excellent student, graduating with her Bachelor of Science in biology, summa cum laude in 1977, Fraser knew how to have fun.4 When she was in high school, she had felt, at times, that her love for science put her on the outside, but this was different in college.5 According to a college friend, she often studied for two days straight after going to hockey games and parties.6

Although she had planned to attend medical school, Fraser’s intentions changed in her senior year at RPI. In an interview with Vanessa Mizell of the Washington Post, Fraser said that even as she was going on interviews and applying to medical schools, she realized that her passion lay in medical research.7 Because of this revelation, she decided to pursue a Ph.D. in pharmacology at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY). While at school in Buffalo, Fraser met her first husband, J. Craig Venter, an assistant professor. When her thesis committee was discouraging about the topic she had chosen, Venter, her lab director, encouraged her to continue pursuing her research.8 She credits him with helping her learn the lesson of not being afraid to look at things from a new perspective.9 This academic relationship between Fraser and Venter evolved, and, in 1981, they were married.10Fraser received her Ph.D. in pharmacology, and she went on to work as a research instructor at SUNY Buffalo until 1983.11 After that, Dr. Fraser spent two years working at Roswell Park Memorial Institute, also in Buffalo, New York, as a research scientist studying cancer.12, 13

In 1985, Fraser and her husband moved to Maryland to work as researchers at the National Institute of Health (NIH).14 After working at NIH for a few years, she was recruited to head up her own lab on alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Here, she was able to continue her research on topics directly relating to human health and wellness.

In 1992, Fraser’s husband, Dr. Venter, left NIH to start a research foundation, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Rockville, MD.15 She followed, becoming the vice-president and director of the microbial genomics program. Fraser worked there for fifteen years, and over that period of time participated in and oversaw several ground breaking research projects. One of Dr. Fraser’s first projects at TIGR pertained to the study of tumors on the molecular level, continuing her research on topics directly related to human health.16 Three years after joining TIGR, Fraser was a part of a team of scientists who were the first to map out the genetic code of a free-living organism. The microbe they successfully mapped out, Haemophilus influenzae, is a factor in ear infections and childhood meningitis.17 This was groundbreaking research; no one else in the world at the time had successfully mapped out a free-living organism.

While at TIGR, Dr. Fraser worked primarily on microbes related to the medical field, largely those that were the cause of diseases. After identifying Haemophilus influenzae, Fraser and her teams were responsible for the identification of microbes related to other illnesses, most notably lyme disease and syphilis.18, 19 This type of research is necessary for the development of vaccines and treatments of these devastating illnesses. At the time, TIGR was “the world leader” in microbial sequencing, responsible for approximately half of the microbes that had been decoded and mapped.20

In September of 1998, Dr. Fraser was named as the new president of TIGR.21 Under her leadership, the research grants of the institute multiplied, allowing them to work on a great deal of important projects.22 One example of research that the Institute performed pertained to the anthrax attacks of 2001. Fraser and her team were a part of the effort to decode the genes of the anthrax used in the attack, successfully working with the FBI to identify the strain in order to find the source. The public nature of the anthrax attacks, and the effort to identify the strain, brought Fraser's team, and the entire study of genomics into the public eye.

In early 2005, Dr. Fraser and her husband divorced.23 In spite of their personal split, Dr. Fraser and Dr. Venter continued to work together professionally in the context of The Institute of Genomic Research, she as president and he as chairman. Later that same year, Dr. Fraser married Dr. Stephen Liggett.24 She continued on at TIGR, contributing to research projects, and weighing in on international issues in the field of bioscience.

Dr. Fraser participated in a joint effort to create standards of research publications. In June 2007, concerns arose internationally about a German study that had been released, which pertained to a particular microbe.25 The international community was worried about a potential increase in bioterrorism due to freedom of information access. Dr. Fraser made comments about the issue, pointing to the need for an international standard of information protection.26 Acknowledgment of her expertise as a researcher and leader in her field was expanding beyond the state, making her internationally known and respected.

Early in the spring of 2007, it was announced that Fraser would be leaving TIGR to take a position as head of a new research institution at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.27 The dean of the medical school was quoted as saying, “We are fortunate to have recruited a world-class researcher.”28This recognition, as not only a leading researcher and scientist in the state of Maryland, but a world-class researcher, highlights the significance of Dr. Fraser’s career. Many internationally renowned scientists, such as Dr. Robert C. Gallo, identifier of HIV as the cause of AIDS, were recruited to work under her leadership at the new Genomic Institute at the University of Maryland.29

Since coming to the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Fraser has continued as an outstanding leader and researcher. She and her team at the University of Maryland have won significantly more grant funding than school officials expected. An article written in 2009 said that in the two years Fraser and her team had been at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, they doubled their budget, bringing in $80 million in grant funding.30 These funds have allowed her and her colleagues to study microbes and their relationship with obesity, Crohn’s disease and yeast infections, as well as participating in the NIH sponsored Human Microbiome Project.31 These research projects have the possibility of significant impact on healthcare and personal medicine.

In addition to her clear gift for genetic research, Dr. Fraser has a variety of other interests, and has contributed to society in other ways. Her interests reach far beyond her field of research, encompassing varied topics such as landscape architecture, physics, intererior design, chemical engineering, and nano-technology.32 At one point in time, she even considered going back to school in one of these fields, demonstrating that she has by no means lost her thirst for learning.

Not only are her interests varied, but Dr. Fraser has tried to make an impact on the world outside of her scientific research. A significant way in which she has given back to the global community is through the scholarship fund for Kenyan girls that she set up in 2001.33 The scholarship was established to help fund the high school education of approximately five Kenyan girls a year, allowing them to receive their diploma. This practical aid shows Dr. Fraser’s desire to make a difference in tangible ways, in addition to the legacy of her research.

Not only has Dr. Fraser done her best to reach the world around her through her work and resources, but she is a woman marked by team spirit. Her approach to research projects is that of a team player. As BusinessWeek writer, Paul Raeburn put it, “Fraser has little patience for formality or for hierarchy.”34 Her goal is not to be in charge, but rather to solve problems alongside her colleagues.

This lack of pretension is also evidenced by the way in which she decorates her office. In 2002, an article written about her noted that Dr. Fraser was relaxed and easy-going, regularly bringing her three poodles with her to work.35 Not only that, but she displays her dogs' obedience school certificates on her office walls, rather than hang her own diplomas.36

In the 25 years since she came to Maryland, Dr. Claire Fraser has made an enormous impact on the blossoming field of genomics research. Dr. Fraser has received numerous prestigious awards in the field of microbiology, as well as several honorary doctorates.37 Her intelligence and gifts have produced research projects whose lasting significance may one day be seen in the development of drugs and treatments for a variety of diseases. Aditionally, she has been the most highly cited microbiologist in the last ten years, illustrating the importance of her work to the field as a whole.38 Her extreme productivity in the field, as evidenced by the number of articles she has written, as well as her leadership of the Institute for Genome Sciences, is expected to continue for many more years. The University of Maryland officials are hopeful that she will lead the School of Medicine to become a world premiere genomics research center.39 It was for the significance of her scientific work that Dr. Claire M. Fraser was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame in March 2010.

Endnotes:

1. Paul Reaburn, “A Genome Project against Disease: Claire Fraser is changing germ fighting in the 21st century,” BusinessWeek, July 1, 2002, <http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_26/b3789090.htm> 4 June 2010. Return to text
2. "Claire M. Fraser." Newsmakers, Issue 2. Thomas Gale, 2005. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2010. Return to text
3. Ibid. Return to text
4. "Claire M. Fraser," Newsmakers. Return to text
5. Raeburn. Return to text
6. Ibid. Return to text
7. "Claire M. Fraser-Liggett, Institute for Genome Sciences; A genomics researchers winding road," Washington Post, January 4, 2010. Return to text
8. "Claire M. Fraser" Newsmakers. Return to text
9. Ibid. Return to text
10. Raeburn. Return to text
11. Ibid. Return to text
12. Ibid. Return to text
13. Reece, "2010 Maryland Women's Hall of Fame Nomination." Return to text
14. Raeburn. Return to text
15. Ibid. Return to text
16. "Claire M. Fraser," Newsmakers. Return to text
17. Julekha Dash, "Microbes take center stage: Claire Fraser-Ligett and the Institute for Genome Sciences strve for scientific renown," Baltimore Business Journal, July 17-23, 2009, 21. Return to text
18. Nicholas Wade, "DNA of Organism in Lyme Disease Is Decoded," New York Times, December 11, 1997. Return to text
19. Nicholas Wade, "Genetic Map of Syphilis Is Decoded; Hope for Vaccine Is Raised," New York Times, July 17, 1998. Return to text
20. Raeburn. Return to text
21. "TIGR Announces New President," PR Newswire Association, Inc., September 21, 1998. Return to text
22. Raeburn. Return to text
23. Richard Leiby, Washington Post, The Reliable Source, January 9, 2005. Return to text
24. "Liggett-Fraser," The Sun, Arts & Society, Aug 21, 2005. Return to text
25. Rick Weiss, "Release of Microbe Study Spurs Bioterror Worries,"Washington Post, June 1, 2007. Return to text
26. Ibid. Return to text
27.Chris Emery and Jonathan Bor, "UM Aims for Lead in Gene Research: Pioneering Scientist to Head New Facility at Medical School," The Sun, April 6, 2007. Return to text
28. Ibid. Return to text
29. Ibid. Return to text
30. Dash. Return to text
31. Ibid. Return to text
32. Raeburn. Return to text
33. Reece, "2010 Maryland Women's Hall of Fame Nomination." Return to text
34. Raeburn. Return to text
35. Ibid. Return to text
36. Ibid. Return to text
37. Larry Roberts, "Internationally Known Scientist to Head New Institute of Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine," University of Maryland Medical Center, <http://www.umm.edu/news/releases/fraser-liggett.htm> 8 June 2010. Return to text
38. Ibid. Return to text
39. Dash. Return to text

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2002 (April 30) - NYTimes : "Thrown Aside, Genome Pioneer Plots a Rebound"

By Nicholas Wade / Saved as PDF : [HN02AX][GDrive]

Mentioned : [Celera Genomics Corporation] / Applied Biosystems / Wallace Herbert Steinberg (born 1934) /

What do you do for an encore after you have decoded the human genome? [Dr. John Craig Venter (born 1946)] has had to ponder that problem sooner than he expected after being forced out as president of [Celera Genomics Corporation] in January.

He has now made his decision, to start two institutes and to write a book. One institute, he said in an interview last week before giving a lecture at the Yale School of Medicine, will study issues of science policy like the genetic basis of race and stem cell research. The other will try to engineer microbes genetically to convert carbon dioxide into hydrogen, producing clean energy and averting greenhouse warming in the same step.

As for the book, that will be based on his own genome, which he has now declared to be the principal human genome decoded by [Celera Genomics Corporation]. ''I will do a detailed examination of my genetic code and use that as a basis of writing my book on genomics,'' he said.

The new turn in Dr. Venter's career does not seem likely to be significantly more placid than the previous phases. In conversation, he still alternates between assertions of his achievements and aspersions on his academic critics, some of whom attacked him again in an article in March in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is proud of what he achieved at Celera, but perhaps still a little bruised by the buffeting that he received there from the demands to generate revenue, as well as scientific results.

''There was severe pressure on me from the people who put up the money, as well as from the Collinses and Landers,'' he said, referring generically to his academic rivals in the race to decode the human genome, Dr. Francis S. Collins of the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Eric S. Lander of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ''So I was walking a tightrope, though at times it felt like sliding along a razor blade.''

Although best known for his role in decoding the human genome, Dr. Venter had made three prior landmark scientific discoveries. All were achieved because of his skill in spotting the gains that could be reaped from the new DNA sequencing machines made by [Applied Biosystems] of Foster City, Calif.

As a little-known researcher at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Venter used the first generation of the machines to discover hundreds of human genes by decoding just short parts of them. A biomedical entrepreneur, [Wallace Herbert Steinberg (born 1934)], who died in 1995, set up Dr. Venter in a nonprofit institute, the Institute for Genomic Research, or TIGR, to pursue the advance in harness with a commercial partner, Human Genome Sciences, headed by Dr. William A. Haseltine.

At TIGR, Dr. Venter assembled a loyal and talented group of scientists that included Dr. Hamilton O. Smith, a Nobel biologist. The team's second coup was to decode the full genome of a bacterium, handily beating the government-supported effort in 1995.

At the Yale lecture last week, Dr. Venter retold the story of how he applied for a National Institutes of Health grant to decode the bacterium by a novel method but was rejected by a panel of academic genome scientists who declared his decoding method unworkable. Dr. Venter had to finish the project with his own funds, he told the audience, but not before Dr. Collins had turned down an appeal, repeating the grant committee's finding that Dr. Venter's method could not work. Dr. Collins, through a spokesman, declined to comment.

''While the N.I.H. is not very good at funding new ideas, once an idea is established they are extremely good,'' Dr. Venter added, noting the profusion of the institutes' money now devoted to decoding other bacterial genomes.

Dr. Venter was then invited to sequence the human genome by Dr. Michael W. Hunkapiller, head of Applied Biosystems.

Given the chance to trounce his rivals on their principal project, Dr. Venter accepted and set up his company, Celera Genomics, that started sequencing the human genome from scratch. He tested his novel decoding first on the fruit fly genome, his third major scientific achievement, and then turned to the human genome, which both he and the government consortium completed in draft form in June 2000.

Celera's plan was to sell its genome data to subscribers. Dr. Venter said that this became a profitable business of more than $100 million a year, a figure that ''not many biotech companies have achieved.'' The problem was that the government was giving away much the same data for free. Dr. Venter declined to address directly the question of whether he thought it a proper role of the government, which usually supports just precommercial research, to compete with his database.

Given Celera's high stock price, investors wanted more than just the income from the database. ''The experiment worked, but not on the level wanted by people who wanted to become billionaires out of it,'' Dr. Venter said.

His original plan, Dr. Venter said, was to stay at Celera for four years. He made it through a ''very strenuous'' three and a half. ''I had the demands of the pressure of the human genome race,'' he said. ''I was trying as an absolute novice to run a New York Stock Exchange company and dealing with some of the issues and personalities associated with that.''

But on leaving Celera, it was not so easy for him to return to his home at TIGR. In his absence, his wife, [Dr. Claire Marie Fraser (born 1955)], had taken over the institute and built its staff to 300 people, with $40 million a year in research grants, including financing to sequence the anthrax DNA. ''So I said it was much better, rather than disrupt that structure, to form these sister organizations where I could play a role,'' Dr. Venter said.

He is starting his institutes, the TIGR Center for the Advancement of Genomics and the Institute for Biological Energy, with the money that he made from his stock in Human Genome Sciences and Celera. The policy institute may weigh in on political issues like stem cell research and what Dr. Venter calls ''the confusion over genetic determinism.''

His energy institute is centered on a group of ancient microbes, archea, which inhabit the deepest parts of the earth and ocean. The archea do not infect humans, making them safer to manipulate. Dr. Venter said he hoped that they could be genetically engineered to suck out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, relieving the threat of greenhouse warming, and to convert the gas into hydrogen, a source of nonpolluting energy.

At 56, Dr. Venter is still full of vigor and ambition. He seems to thrive on opposition, missing no chance to skewer his academic critics. Yet he enjoys the academic approval of the prizes and honors that are showering down on him.

''I've always felt part of the academic community,'' he said. ''I had to form Celera to get the money for sequencing the human genome.''

He professes complete lack of concern that he has not been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, an elite group that has honored his chief academic rivals.

He responds heatedly to the criticism that he is brilliant at spurring public interest in his projects but seldom finishes them. ''Do I come up with new ideas and move on to other things?'' he asked. ''Yes. I could easily spend my entire life working on any one of these things, but science is a lot further ahead because I didn't.''

Later he referred to his role in life as ''like a superenzyme.'' ''I'm catalyzing things,'' Dr. Venter added.

The policy and biological energy institutes represent new areas where, he concedes, he is a neophyte. At TIGR, where he is still chairman of the board, he intends to decode more genomes, particularly those that throw light on one of his deepest interests, evolutionary biology.

He said he thought that he could get ''most of the chimp genome'' with a shortcut based on comparing it with the human genome. ''But the real things are the blue whale, the dolphin and the elephant,'' he says. ''There are no bad genomes to do.''

No bad genomes -- an appropriate motto for the man who was first to decode the 1.8 million DNA units of the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae, the 120 million units of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the 3 billion units of that distinctive variety of person, Homo sapiens var. Venter.

2002 (May 10) - GenomeWeb.com : "Venter, Fraser Use Pet Poodle for Celera/TIGR Dog Genome Project"

https://www.genomeweb.com/archive/venter-fraser-use-pet-poodle-celeratigr-dog-genome-project#.XKDhr_ZFw_Y

2002-05-10-genomeweb-com-venter-fraser-use-pet-poodle-celeratigr-dog-genome-project.pdf

2002-05-10-genomeweb-com-venter-fraser-use-pet-poodle-celeratigr-dog-genome-project-img-1.jpg

NEW YORK, May 10 - Move over, Venter, and let Rover take over.

A high-ranking scientist from the Institute for Genomic Research has confirmed that Celera and TIGR used DNA from one of Craig Venter's and Claire Fraser's pet poodles for their canine genome-sequencing collaboration.

The confirmation, quickly seconded by four separate TIGR scientists and a top official at Celera, affirms long-standing rumors that the dog, a black Standard Poodle named Shadow, has followed one of its owners into the genomic history books.

Venter, the shy one in the family, disclosed to the mainstream media late last month that Celera's human genome sequence was mostly his own. This, too, confirmed what most of the genomics industry knew to be true. Last year TIGR said that Celera had begun sequencing the genome of a 7-year-old Standard Poodle named Shadow.

According to the TIGR official, who asked to remain anonymous, TIGR, a federally funded research lab, did not use government money to perform the 1X sequence on the dog, the oldest of three in the Venter-Fraser household. Instead, the couple paid for the cost to sequence their dog's genome "out of their own pockets.

A TIGR spokesperson confirmed that Shadow belongs to Venter and Fraser and said that no government funding was used in the project. A Celera spokesman said the company has no comment.

Asked for their opinion about the news, a handful of randomly selected genomics scientists couldn't have been less excited if they learned that Venter's DNA comprised Celera's human genome sequence. One researcher, however, noted that a Beagle might have been a better choice because its DNA has been shown to be more relevant to humans'.

Standard Poodles are "very active, intelligent, and elegant-appearing dogs," according to the American Kennel Club. They are "squarely built, well proportioned, moving soundly, and carrying [themselves] proudly.

"Properly clipped in the traditional fashion and carefully groomed," the AKC notes, "the poodle has about him an air of distinction and dignity peculiar to himself."

Standard Poodles come in a dizzying array of colors--blues, grays, silvers, browns, "cafe-au-laits, apricots, and creams," according to the AKC. They also come in confusing color combinations: Brown and cafe-au-lait poodles, for example, have "liver-colored noses," "eye-rims and lips," dark toenails, and dark amber eyes.

2005 marriage

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Detail Source

Name

Dr. Claire M. Fraser

Gender

Female

Residence Place

Potomac , MD

Occupation

President

Employer

The Institute For Genomic Research

Occupation 2

Director

School

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Marriage Date

24 Jun 2005

Marriage Place

Washington , DC

Spouse

Stephen B. Liggett

2007

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Sep 1 2008

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Oct 11 2011

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june 20 2012

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2013 - personalized medicine ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg4VMpObdCc

2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW3Vx7Q9m00

Careers That Matter: Claire Fraser (Director, Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland)

Conversations That Matter

209 views Dec 18, 2019 #microbiome #genomics #humangenomeproject

The mapping of the human genome was a fearless plunge into groundbreaking science. Dr Fraser says, as a scientist, she had to take risks that allowed her to answer the questions she was asking in molecular biology – at the time a nascent field. She dared to fail at a time when that was still an option.

Her PhD and her early work at NIH was focused on G-protein coupled receptors and that led to exploring the receptors at a fundamental molecular level. She asked: how do you discover new members of this protein family? And that question led her to an intersection of disciplines, such as automated DNA sequencing which ultimately put her in line to map the human genome.