Profile

  • Organization
    University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

  • Employment Status
    University / 4-year College Faculty - Non-tenure eligible

  • Telephone
    305-243-2305

  • ORCID
    0000-0002-8666-2309

  • Reason
    Using in an existing course

  • Address
    address1:Dept of Biochenistry and Molecular Biology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
    address2:1011 NW 15th ST
    city:Miami
    postal:33136
    region:Florida
    country:US

  • Biography

    Rik Myers was lured into science from political activism in the 1970s when he realized that he could make better arguments against genetic engineering if he studied genetic mechanisms. As his understanding of emerging technologies grew, he learned to see the promise that accompanied the peril, eventually earning a B.S. (1983) in Microbiology at Iowa State University (paid for in part by playing guitar in rock bands around the midwest). After college, Rik became a research associate at the University of Florida where he spent his mornings walking in the woods picking mushrooms, and his afternoons, evenings and weekends in the lab isolating and characterizing toxic mushroom peptides. He then joined the lab of Dr. Stanley Maloy in the Microbiology Department at the University of Illinois where Rik obtained an M.S. (1986) and Ph.D. (1989) working on the genetics and biochemistry of proline transort in Salmonella, a bacterial genetic model system and human pathogen. After graduate school, Dr. Myers headed west to dissect genetic recombination mechanisms as a post-doc with Dr. Frank Stahl (one of the founders of the field of Molecular Biology) at the University of Oregon. Following several profitable years of research with Frank (and music with a popular African rock band), Rik moved on to a position at the University of British Columbia. As a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (a molecular evolution think tank), he explored gene mining in the first sequenced bacterial genome and mathematical modeling of DNA repair and meiosis. In 1997, Dr. Myers joined the University of Miami where he is employed in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Miller School of Medicine as Senior Lecturer. His research lab studies genetic recombination in stem cells and bacteria and develops innovative genetic systems for studying human diseases. Dr. Myers won the Stanley Glaser award for outstanding research productivity and achievement (1999) and twice won awards for being an “outstanding student mentor” (2002, 2005). He is a popular teacher, lecturing in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Genetics to UM undergraduate, graduate and medical students. Rik was recipient of the 2013 UM Faculty Senate Outstanding Teacher Award and the George Paff Award for excellence in medical school teaching in both 2015 and 2016 . Dr. Myers is the Director for undergraduate research in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and was previously co-Director of the undergraduate program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Rik has been a consultant to the biotechnology and brewing industries and is co-inventor on patents for genetic engineering technologies. He incorporates ethics and public service topics into his coursework to balance the excitement of scientific discovery with its impact on society and still manages to play guitar (his band Big Fun 3 released an album on the Ropeadope label in 2010 that has been featured on jazz radio stations).


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