Russell J Howard

Who is Russell J Howard?

Russell J. Howard is an Australian-born scientist, CEO and entrepreneur. He was a pioneer in the fields of molecular parasitology, especially malaria, and in leading the commercialization of one of the most important methods used widely today in molecular biology today called “DNA Shuffling“ or “Molecular Breeding”, a form of "Directed Evolution".

His contributions to malaria research over an 18-year period began in Australia at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, then continued as a tenured Principal Investigator at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, USA, and continued at the biotechnology companies DNAX and Affymax in California. Thirteen years of his group’s malaria research on antigenic variation in malaria culminated in the first molecular cloning of the malarial antigen PfEMP1, a parasite protein that this human malaria parasite expresses on the surface of malaria-infected red cells This antigen represents critical biological functions for the parasite including immune evasion and adherence to microvascular endothelial cells. During this time Howard served on the World Health Organization's Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases and the USAID program for research and vaccine development in malaria.