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 Baylor, Texas Children's Hospital and The Methodist Hospital. He is also Shell Center for Gene Therapy at Baylor 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.
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.
Roy G. Smith, Ph.D.
Director, Huffington Center on Aging
Roy G. Smith, Ph.D., serves as the director of the Roy M. and Phyllis Gough Huffington Center on Aging and professor of cell biology at Baylor. He received degrees in chemistry, physics, and mathematics from the Royal Institute of Chemistry in London and received a Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry from Queen Mary College in London.
In 1972, following postdoctoral work at Vanderbilt University, Smith joined the faculty of Baylor as an instructor of cell biology and served as associate professor and director of the Endocrine Fellow Research Training Program, 1976-79. Also, he was an associate professor and research director in the Department of Urology 1982-1987 and was later appointed professor. In 1987, he accepted a position with Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., where he served as senior director and then as vice president for basic research.
Smith returned to Baylor in September 1998. An elected member of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, Smith has served on the NIH Endocrinology Study Section and as president of the Society for Basic Urologic Research. He authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, 30 medical text chapters, and edited two medical books.