Interim President for DHMRI Announced
Steven A. Lommel, Ph.D. will serve as interim President of the David H. Murdock Research Institute (DHMRI).
“Dr. Lommel’s wealth of experience and industry relationships will prove to be a tremendous asset for the DHMRI moving forward, and the board looks forward to working with him to advance the goals of the David H. Murdock Research Institute,” stated Lynne Scott Safrit, President of the North Carolina Research Campus, North American Commercial Division of Castle and Cooke and President of Atlantic American Properties.
Dr. Lommel is an NC State University William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Research and Associate Director of the North Carolina Agriculture Research Service. He received his B.S. from the University of San Francisco and his M. S. and Ph.D from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a researcher in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Plant Pathology at NC State University. His research focuses on red clover necrotic mosaic virus (RCNMV), a small RNA plant virus, as a model system to study gene regulation and assembly based on RNA structural transitions and using the virus capsid as a non-cargo delivery vehicle. He also serves as co-founder of Nano Vector, an early stage therapeutic drug company commercializing a patent pending nanoparticle system developed at NC State University.
“I am very passionate about the vision and mission of the North Carolina Research Campus and the DHMRI. I am honored to take the role of interim president of the DHMRI to allow the board the time needed to identify a truly outstanding president to lead this institute into the future,” noted Dr. Lommel.
Lommel’s appointment comes after the resignation of past president James L. Oblinger, Ph.D., last week. The DHMRI is a 501©3 life sciences research organization established by David H. Murdock to promote public/private research opportunities in agriculture, nutrition, and health. The institute provides extensive laboratory services and scientific expertise to researchers from academia, government, and industry.
The 110,000-square-foot-laboratory was completed in 2008 at the North Carolina Research Campus, and features world-class life science instrumentation and experienced researchers from diverse disciplines with backgrounds in biotechnology and pharmaceutical sciences DHMRI is designed to augment capabilities or provide turn-key research solutions in a trans-disciplinary environment. DHMRI’s collaborative approach integrates genomic, analytical, cellular, immune and in-vivo sciences.