Directors - Major Centers
Malcolm K. Brenner, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy
Malcolm K. Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at BCM, Texas Children's Hospital and The Methodist Hospital. He is also director of the Shell Center for Gene Therapy at BCM and a professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, Section of Hematology-Oncology.
He received his education at Cambridge University in England - from bachelor's to medical degree as well as his PhD. Before coming to Baylor, he was one of the pioneers in the field of gene therapy at St. Jude Children's Cancer Research Center in Memphis.
Brenner is a co-editor of the journal Molecular Therapy, a member of the American Society of Gene Therapy and a principal investigator or co-investigator on five NIH grants. He is the author or co-author of more than 200 professional articles in his field.
Baruch A. Brody, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy
Baruch A. Brody, Ph.D. is the Leon Jaworski Professor of Biomedical Ethics and director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor. He is also a professor of philosophy at Rice University and director of the ethics program at The Methodist Hospital.
Brody received his B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1962 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1967. He studied at Oxford University as a Fulbright Fellow in 1965-66. He taught at M.I.T. from 1967 to 1975, and has been at Rice since 1975 and at Baylor since 1982.
Brody is the author and editor of 24 volumes and 120 articles and chapters. He has received four grants from the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress to do studies on the ethics of the new reproductive technology, the patenting of transgenic animals, genetic testing in the workplace, and on patenting human gene fragments. He is the principal investigator of the "Protecting Scientific Integrity Through Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest" study, funded by NASA, and of the "Ethical Issues in Emergency Research" study, funded by the NIH. He serves on the editorial board and board of directors of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy and on the editorial board of Social Philosophy and Policy.
Gretchen Darlington, Ph.D.
Acting Director, Huffington Center on Aging
Gretchen Darlington, Ph.D., is acting director of the Huffington Center on Aging and a professor in the departments of Pathology, Molecular & Human Genetics, and Molecular and Cellular Biology, as well as the Huffington Center on Aging. She received a B.A. from the University of Colorado and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Darlington's laboratory carries out basic research studies that address the mechanisms by which differentiated cells of the liver proliferate. Liver cells are capable of regenerating in young animals, but this capacity is greatly reduced in older individuals. Dr. Darlington also directs a NIA sponsored training grant that educates predoctoral and postdoctoral students in methods of scientific investigation in the field of aging.
Richard A. Gibbs, Ph.D.
Director, Human Genome Sequencing Center
Richard A. Gibbs, Ph.D., is director of the BCM Human Genome Sequencing Center and the Wofford Cain Professor in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics.
Gibbs received a B.Sc. (Hons) in 1979 and a Ph.D. in genetics and radiation biology in 1986 at the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. He moved to Houston as a postdoctoral fellow at Baylor to study the molecular basis of human-linked diseases and to develop technologies for rapid genetic analysis.
He joined the Baylor faculty in 1991 and established the BCM Human Genome Sequencing Center in 1996. In 2000, Gibbs was a recipient of the annual Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Excellence in Research Awards.
C. Kent Osborne, M.D.
Director, Breast Center
Director, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center
C. Kent Osborne, M.D., received his A.B. and his M.D. from the University of Missouri, both with honors. He completed his internship and residency at Johns Hopkins, and followed this with three years as a clinical associate at the Medicine Branch of the NCI. He was a faculty member at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio from 1977 until 1999, becoming chief of medical oncology in 1992. In 1999, Osborne moved to Baylor to direct a new Breast Center.
As previous chairman of the Breast Cancer Committee for the Southwest Oncology Group, Osborne directed numerous clinical trials investigating new treatment strategies in primary and metastatic breast cancer. Osborne currently directs the Baylor Breast Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence Grant.
Among his previous awards are the Komen Foundation Award and the Brinker International Award for breast cancer research. Osborne has authored more than 250 manuscripts dealing with the biology and treatment of breast cancer.