 |
|
|
|
|
|
Board of Advisors
The Board of Advisors possess expertise in fields covering the full range of the foundation's activities and provide guidance on particular projects and larger strategic initiatives.
Luc Jaeger North America
Associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). His present research interests focus on ribonucleic acid (RNA), one of the most important biopolymers on which life is based on Earth. Jaeger's lab research combines a broad range of theoretical and experimental approaches at the interfaces of chemistry, biology, and physics with implications in areas as diverse as synthetic biology, nanobiotechnology, nanomedicine, biomaterial sciences, complex system sciences, astrobiology and evolutionary biology.
Associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). His present research interests focus on ribonucleic acid (RNA), one of the most important biopolymers on which life is based on Earth. Jaeger's lab research combines a broad range of theoretical and experimental approaches at the interfaces of chemistry, biology, and physics with implications in areas as diverse as synthetic biology, nanobiotechnology, nanomedicine, biomaterial sciences, complex system sciences, astrobiology and evolutionary biology. At a fundamental level, present topics of interest include the understanding of the logic of RNA three-dimensional assembly for RNA 3D prediction and rational design, the understanding of RNA structural evolution and more generally, the understanding of the processes leading to the emergence of complexity in biological systems. At a more applied level, Jaeger's laboratory has emerged as one of the leading laboratories in RNA nanotechnology with a particular emphasis on the development of new RNA-based strategies for potentially treating cancer and infectious diseases. A graduate of the University Louis Pasteur (ULP) in Strasbourg, Jaeger went on to earn a master's degree in chemistry and biology there and then a Ph.D. in structural biochemistry and biophysics at ULP in 1993 under the supervision of Professors Eric Westhof and François Michel. He was awarded a postdoctoral research fellowship from NASA to work with Prof. Gerald Joyce at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and, in 1995, returned to France as a research scientist at the Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire in Strasbourg. He joined the faculty of UCSB in 2002 and was promoted to his present position in 2008. Jaeger has held an ULP-NIBH (National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology and Information Services) grant for work in Japan and is the recipient of a UCSB Junior Faculty Research Incentive Award. His current research is supported by National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. A member of the advisory board of the Journal of Molecular Recognition, he is the author or co-author of more than fifty-five papers published in renowned international scientific journals.
Byron Johnson North America
Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences and director of the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) as well as director of the Program on Prosocial Behavior, both at Baylor University. He is a Senior Fellow at the Witherspoon Institute (Princeton), Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research (San Francisco), and chief advisor for the Center for the Study of Religion and Chinese Society, Peking University (Beijing).
Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences and director of the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) as well as director of the Program on Prosocial Behavior, both at Baylor University. He is a Senior Fellow at the Witherspoon Institute (Princeton), Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research (San Francisco), and chief advisor for the Center for the Study of Religion and Chinese Society, Peking University (Beijing). Before joining the faculty at Baylor University, Johnson directed research centers at Vanderbilt University and the University of Pennsylvania and taught at Princeton University. Johnson just completed a series of empirical studies for the Department of Justice on the role of religion in prosocial youth behavior and is a member of the Coordinating Council for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (Presidential Appointment). He is recognized as a leading authority on the scientific study of religion, the efficacy of faith-based organizations, domestic violence, and criminal justice. Recent publications have examined the impact of faith-based programs on recidivism reduction and prisoner reentry and his new book, More God, Less Crime, will be released in April 2011. Johnson and ISR colleagues are partnering with the Gallup Organization on studies addressing religion and spirituality in the world.