The Rensselaer Alumni Association recently honored Claire M. Fraser ’77, who is the president of the Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, MD, with a prestigious Fellows Award from the School of Science. The Fellows Award honors individuals who set an example for Rensselaer students to follow through their accomplishments in their profession and service to the Institute. One hundred eleven Fellow Awards have been presented to date. “It is one of the greatest honors that I have received in my career,” said Fraser.
Fraser was the first scientist to develop monoclonal antibodies against the class of G protein-coupled receptors, successfully predicting the existence of an expansive family of receptors before the first family in the class was cloned and sequenced. She also was one of the first researchers to apply molecular biology to the study of protein receptors and has made a number of groundbreaking discoveries on the mechanisms related to G protein-coupled receptor functions.
Throughout her career, Fraser has published more than 130 studies in leading scientific journals and has spent eight years at the National Institutes of Health, including acting as chief of the molecular neurobiology section at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Fraser’s past roles at TIGR include serving as the director of the Department of Microbial Genomics and vice president for research. Prior to joining TIGR, Fraser was a faculty member in the Department of Molecular Immunology at Roswell Park Memorial Institute in Buffalo, NY. “I most enjoy all of my colleagues at TIGR. They have helped to create a collaborative environment that I have never seen anyplace else. I also appreciate the fact that we have a great deal of flexibility in what we do and how we do it,” said Fraser.
Her achievements in computer algorithms earned her the 1998 Computerworld Smithsonian Award for Innovation in Information Technology and the 1999 Institute for Mathematics and Advanced Supercomputing Award. She was selected as one of Maryland’s top 100 women by The Daily Record in 1997 and 2000. In January Newsweek Magazine called Fraser “one of several players to watch in the upcoming year and beyond.”
She currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and Comparative and Microbial Genomes and is a member of six professional societies. Her present research interests include whole genome sequence analysis of microbial genomes and the use of genome-based approaches to reveal differences in gene expression. “My colleagues and I believe that we are making scientific history every day. The genomics work that we are currently doing is the most exciting [research] of my 25 years in science,” said Fraser.
Fraser holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from RPI and a Ph.D. in pharmacology from SUNY Buffalo. She is a member of Rensselaer’s B.F. Greene Society of Patroons. “I [couldn’t] imagine a better place for me than [Rensselaer]. I was always challenged intellectually. My education there was largely responsible for my choice of a career as a scientist, and I made a large number of wonderful friends that I am still stay in contact with,” said Fraser.
Fraser resides in Potomac, Maryland with her husband, Dr. J. Craig Venter, president of Celera Genomics, and three poodles. In her spare time, She enjoys gardening, painting, and sailing.
Editor’s Note: Some information provided by the National Science Foundation, Maryland’s Daily Record, and the Institute for Genomic Research.
