Report of the Director

Mission Statement

The Waksman Institute's mission is to conduct research in microbial molecular genetics, developmental molecular genetics, plant molecular genetics, and structural and computational biology. We also provide a catalyst for general university initiatives, a life science infrastructure, undergraduate and graduate education, and a public service function for the state.

Background

The principal mission of the Waksman Institute is research. While the initial emphasis of the institute at its founding was microbiology, its focus soon turned toward molecular genetics, and was later broadened to include organisms other than viruses, bacteria, and fungi. As a reflection of this new, broadened, vision of research at the institute, under previous directors fruit flies and plants were also studied. Since my assumption of the instituteÕs directorship, I have strived to expand its investigative horizons to include computational and structural biology, and a further emphasis on the molecular genetics of regulation of gene expression and biomolecular interactions.

This new expansion of the Waksman InstituteÕs investigative goals has stimulated the introduction of interdisciplinary programs with chemistry, computer science, and plant science. Indeed, the instituteÕs research mission has evolved from a diversity of disciplines centered on antibiotics to a unified discipline of molecular genetics with a more diverse set of biological problems. The institute today employs faculty teams that concentrate on certain classes of organisms amenable to genetic analysis such as bacteria and fungi (Escherichia coli and yeast), animal systems (e.g., Drosophila and C. elegans), and plants (Arabidopsis, tobacco, and maize). Although the institute focuses on basic academic questions in microbial, animal, and plant research, it continues to seek practical and commercially viable applications of its discoveries. Historically, in fact, the institute owes its existence to the symbiotic relationship that exists between academic research institutions and the private sector. In 1939 Dr. Selman Waksman, the instituteÕs founder and namesake, entered into an agreement with Merck & Company of Rahway, New Jersey, to study the production of antimicrobial agents by soil bacteria. Within four years, streptomycin, the first effective antibiotic against tuberculosis, was discovered, patented, and licensed to the pharmaceutical industry by Rutgers University. Through the patent of streptomycin, and other antibiotics discovered in Dr. WaksmanÕs laboratories, Rutgers received approximately $16 million in royalties, which was used, in part, to build and endow the institute.

Organization

The Waksman Institute is a research unit of the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey. It receives a budget from the state to support the recruitment and appointment of faculty on separate budgeted research (SBR) lines that are split with instructional (IDR) lines from the decanal units of the campus. This facilitates faculty appointments in different disciplines, and enriches the interdisciplinary research unique to the institute. The decanal units simultaneously receive an enhanced instructional and service program, in addition to their traditional departmental tasks consistent with the mission of a state university. The faculty of the institute also participate in the various graduate programs, thereby becoming fully integrated into the state university system.

Facilities at the Waksman Institute include:

A reading room with over 20,000 volumes on microbiology, biochemistry, and genetics;

The molecular biology computing laboratory serving 278 users and 220 workstations, maintaining 21 servers (Apple

Xserve, Linux, SGI Origin, Sun v880, Windows 2003) with a combined total of 11.9 TB (11,900 GB), holding site licenses for DNA sequence analysis packages that include FGENESH, GCG/SeqWeb, Jellyfish, Lasergene, and Vector NTI.

A confocal microscopy suite for molecular and cellular biology;

A modern computerized cell and cell products fermentation facility that has completed equipment validation and prepared standard operating procedures for such equipment. This validation allows us to meet requests for the manufacture of preclinical products undercurrent Good Laboratory Practices (cGLP) and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) compliance.

Personnel and Budget

The institute currently consists of fourteen resident faculty members, three with non-resident membership, one with adjunct membership, and four with emeritus status. The institute accommodates one research assistant professor, twelve visiting investigators, ten research associates, nine research assistants, five research assistants, twenty postdoctoral researchers, twenty-two technical assistants, and twenty-four graduate students. The Waksman Institute's total resident population is currently 136, which does not include undergraduate students doing independent research. There was another increase of Ph.D. level researchers in the institute last year. This number has increased in the last two years by 30%, while the decline of graduate students has leveled off. Although graduate student stipends have increased significantly in recent years, student recruitment has become more competitive and out-of-state tuition charges to research grants have favored the recruitment of postdoctoral researchers. Another problem is the increased rejection of granting visas for foreign students by the State Department.

Annual revenue of outside funding.

If we track the instituteÕs external funding from both government and private grants of the last twelve years, income per faculty member has risen sharply, setting a new record for the Institute. In this period, external funding has risen from a low of $2,978,346 to a new record of $19,139,575 this year. During the same period state funding has increased from $2,687,556 to $3,540,553. Previous state funding short falls resulting in the loss of state-funded positions and/or stipends have been off set by annual salary improvements. However, the actual state funding increase is largely due to due the competitive Rutgers Reinvest and SROA programs, which are annually appropriated and their levels reflect to some degree the fluctuation in annual state support. This notable difference only reflects the strength of the faculty to receive funding based on merit. In fact this yearÕs unusual large increase is due to funding of the maize-genome-sequencing project with $4.8 million, which was also jumpstarted by RutgersÕ support of the rice-genome-sequencing project. These examples demonstrate that allocation of state funds to prime research projects with federal sponsored research activity is an excellent strategy.

In 2003, the institute conducted a search for a full-time faculty member for the microbial genetics group with an interest in studying molecular machines. For the first time the Department of Physics besides the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, the Department of Genetics, and the Chemistry Department participated in this search. Unfortunately, the finalist decided to take a different position. It was therefore decided to renew the search for next year. There are currently five institute faculty members in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, four in the Department of Genetics, three in the Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, two in the Department of Chemistry, and one in the Department of Computer Science. Of the current fourteen resident, three non-resident, and one adjunct members of the faculty, five are assistant professors, two are associate professors, three are professors, three are professors II, two are Board of Governors professors, and two are university professors. The Institute currently has four professor emeriti, who are all well, and occasionally join us here for events.

Highlights

Research productivity at the Waksman Institute has been well documented, and rewarded, by the increase in outside funding per faculty member. Considering that the Institute is now employing its lowest number of tenured members in years, the record $19.1 million in competitive research dollars is a great compliment to the young faculty that has been recruited in recent years and the senior faculty as well.

This yearÕs Harry Yale Lecturer was Dr. Gary Ruvkun from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Ruvkun talked about the tiny RNA world. This is the second year that this lectureship has supported presentations on the recent observations that double-stranded RNA plays an important role in regulating mRNA stability and therefore gene expression. Ruvkun has been successfully applying RNAi (RNA interference) as a genetic tool in the functional genomics of C. elegans. At our institute Dr. Xuemei ChenÕs laboratory works on the leading etch of the role of microRNAs in flower development. Drs. Richard Padgett and Kenneth Irvine are in the process of setting up an RNAi facility for fruitfly functional genomics with support from the University and Busch endowment,here at the institute.

Evelyn Witkin received the National Medal of Science last year. This is one of the highest recognitions a scientist can receive from the US government. The recipient is invited to the White House and receives the medal from the President of the United States. EvelynÕs work on the SOS-repair system in bacteria had a great impact in biology and was accomplished with modest resources. Our faculty was very proud of her and together with other colleagues and friends joined her in a reception at President McCormickÕs residence.

Richard Ebright was recently re-appointed as member of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). In recent years the re-appointments at HHMI have become very competitive and dropped by nearly a third. It is therefore a great recognition for scientific accomplishments to get re-appointed. Congratulations to Richard for his scientific accomplishments.

My laboratory has received two group awards related to our participation in the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP). IRGSP was selected last year for the World Technology Award in Biotechnology. The US members of the IRGSP were this year selected for the USDA SecretaryÕs Honor Award. The SecretaryÕs Honor Award is the highest award given annually by the US Department of Agriculture to individuals or a group of individuals for major achievements in agriculture at a ceremony in Washington, DC.