Ray L. Rodriguez

Ray L. RodriguezUniversity of California, Davis. (2019b, November 26). Raymond L. Rodriguez. College of Biological Sciences. https://biology.ucdavis.edu/people/raymond-rodriguez was born on May 31,1947 in Fresno California. He was raised in San Joaquin and Kerman, California. In 1965, Rodriguez graduated from Kerman Union High School.
After graduating from Fresno City College, Rodriguez received his BS degree in biology from California State University, Fresno in 1969. In 1970, he entered the PhD program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. After receiving his PhD in 1974, Rodriguez received an A.P. Gianni postdoctoral fellowship to work in the Department of Microbiology at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. 
In 1977, Rodriguez was an assistant professor in the Department of Genetics at the University of California, Davis. There, he developed cloning vectors called promoter-probe vectors.Neve, R.L., R.W. West and R.L. Rodriguez. 1979. Eukaryotic DNA fragments which act as promoters for a plasmid gene. Nature 277:324-325.West, R.W., Jr., R.L. Neve and R.L. Rodriguez. 1979. Construction and characterization of E. coli promoter-probe plasmid vectors. I. Cloning promoter-containing DNA fragments. Gene 7:271. to better understand prokaryotic transcriptional regulation. As a visiting scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1990, he helped map and characterize the human APOE4 gene on chromosome 19. In 1997, Rodriguez created the International Rice Genome OrganizationSong, S., Tian, D., & Zhang, Z. (2018). Rice Genomics: over the Past Two Decades and into the Future. Genomics, Proteomics, & Bioinformatics, 16(6), 397–404. . Between 1990 to 1993, this ad hoc organization worked with genomics and agriculture experts to develop a sequencing strategy. The first draft of the rice genome was released on April 5, 2002Whitfield, J. (2002, April 5). Rice genome unveiled : Nature News. Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. https://www.nature.com/news/2002/020402/full/news020402-6.html.
In early January 2003, Rodriguez was awarded a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to create a Center of Excellence for Nutritional GenomicsRodriguez, R. (2008, February 27). NCMHD Center of Excellence in Nutritional Genomics. Grantome. https://grantome.com/grant/NIH/P60-MD000222-05S1. The Center was a collaborative effort with the faculty and staff of the Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research InstituteChildren’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute. (n.d.). Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute. CHORI. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from http://www.chori.org/. Rodriguez served as director of the Center until 2009. 
In 2010, Rodriguez formed an outreach and knowledge dissemination program called the Global HealthShare Initiative (GHS) to address the health needs of the world’s underserved and underprivileged populations through sharing knowledge, technology, and resources. As GHS’s executive directorGlobal HealthShare Initiative. (n.d.). Raymond Rodriguez, Ph.D. Executive Director. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from http://ghs.ucdavis.edu/member-raymond.shtml, Rodriguez has organized and funded international projectsGlobal HealthShare Initiative. (n.d.-a). Galleries. Global HealthShare UCD. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://globalhealthshareucd.smugmug.com/ in IndiaNandi, S., Thota, S., Nag, A., Divyasukhananda, S., Goswami, P., Aravindakshan, A., Rodriguez, R.L., and Mukherjee, B. 2016. Computing for Rural Empowerment: Enabled by Last-Mile Telecommunications. IEEE Communications Magazine 54(6): 102-109. DOI: 10.1109/MCOM.2016.7498095
, BangladeshGlobal HealthShare. (2013, August 2). Diarrheal Disease Treatment: Why It’s Important. Global HealthShare Initiative. https://globalhealthshare.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/diarrheal-disease-treatment-why-its-important/, and RwandaGlobal HealthShare Initiative. (n.d.-b). Increasing Global Economic Citizenship One Healthy Village at a Time. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from http://ghs.ucdavis.edu/.
As a UC Santa Cruz graduate student, Rodriguez produced visual autoradiographic evidence for bidirectional replicationRodriguez, R. L., Dalbey, M. S., & Davern, C. I. (1974). Autoradiographic evidence for bidirectional DNA replication in escherichia coli. Journal of Molecular Biology, 74(4), 599–602. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-2836(73)90050-8 of the E. coli chromosome. The resulting publicationRodriguez, R.L., M.S. Dalbey and C.I. Davern. 1973. Autoradiographic evidence for bidirectional DNA replication in E. coli. J. Mol. Biol. 74:599-604., provided evidence of bidirectional DNA replication thus eliminating the opposing hypothesis of unidirectional DNA replication.
In 1974, Rodriguez obtained an A.P. Giannini postdoctoral fellowship and NIH postdoctoral fellowship in the Herbert Boyer laboratory at UC San Francisco Medical CenterUniversity of California San Francisco. (n.d.). UCSF. UCSF. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://www.ucsf.edu/. At UCSF, Rodriguez collaborated with another postdoctoral fellow, Francisco Bolivar Zapata (Paco), from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. To address the need for more efficient and better characterize vectors, Rodriguez and Bolivar codeveloped the 4,361 base pair, circular, autonomously replicating, DNA molecule, pBR322, the first general purpose molecular cloning vector approvedUniversity of California, San Francisco. (n.d.). More on the pBR322 Episode. Online Archive of California. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt7q2nb2hm;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=d0e6207&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e6207&brand=oac4 by the National Institute of Health GuidelinesInstitute of Medicine. 2014. Oversight and Review of Clinical Gene Transfer Protocols: Assessing the Role of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. (NIH Guidelines). The abbreviation, “pBR322,” refers to the plasmid “p,” constructed by Bolivar and Rodriguez “BR,” and the last of “322” transformed colonies to be screened for the pBR322pBR322 an example of plasmid vector. (n.d.). Cloning Vectors. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from http://www.asiyakm.yolasite.com/pbr322.php plasmid. The 1977 publication describing the construction of pBR322Bolivar F, Rodriguez RL, Greene PJ, Betlach MC, Heyneker HL, Boyer HW, Crosa JH, Falkow S. Construction and characterization of new cloning vehicles. II. A multipurpose cloning system. Gene. 1977;2(2):95-113. PMID: 344137.Bolivar, F., R.L. Rodriguez, P.J. Greene, M.C. Betlach, H.L. Heyneker, Boyer H.W. Crosa, J.H. S. Falkow. 1977. Construction and characterization of new cloning vehicles. II. A multipurpose cloning system. Gene, 2:95. has been cited nearly 6000 timesRaymond L. Rodriguez - Google Scholar. (n.d.). Google Scholar. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PqtYDZQAAAAJ&hl=en according to Google Scholar. Soon after its approval by the NIH, pBR322 was used to clone and express the first chemically synthesized gene for the human peptide hormone, somatostatinItakura K, Hirose T, Crea R, Riggs AD, Heyneker HL, Bolivar F, Boyer HW. Expression in Escherichia coli of a chemically synthesized gene for the hormone somatostatin. Science. 1977 Dec 9;198(4321):1056-63. doi: 10.1126/science.412251. PMID: 412251.. The following year, pBR322 was used to clone and express rat proinsulinVilla-Komaroff, L., Efstratiadis, A., Broome, S., Lomedico, P., Tizard, R., Naber, S. P., Chick, W. L., & Gilbert, W. (1978). A bacterial clone synthesizing proinsulin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 75(8), 3727–3731. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.75.8.3727. Today, the main components of pBR322 can be found in many other plasmid vectors, particularly the pUC plasmids designed and constructed by the late professor Joachim Messing. 
As assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Genetics, Rodriguez published two edited volumes entitled “Promoters: Structure and Function” 1982 with M.J. ChamberlinR.L. Rodriguez and M.J. Chamberlin. Promoters: Structure and Function. R.L. Rodriguez and M.J. Chamberlin eds. Praeger Scientific, New York, 1982. and “Vectors: A Survey of Molecular Cloning Vectors,” 1987 with D.T. DenhardtRodriguez, R.L. and D.T. Denhardt. 1987. Vectors: A survey of molecular cloning vectors and their uses. Butterworth Publishing Co. Stoneham, Mass.. During this period, Rodriguez developed the first molecular cloning lab course in the nation for undergraduates and graduate students. The course was accompanied by a laboratory manual entitled “Recombinant DNA Techniques: An Introduction”Podhajska, A. J. (1984). Recombinant DNA Techniques: An Introduction. Gene, 26(2–3), 323–324. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016672300025969 co-authored with Dr. Robert C. TaitRodriguez, R.L. and R.C. Tait. 1983. Recombinant DNA techniques: An introduction. Addison Wesley Publishing Co., Reading Mass.
In addition to his research and development of plasmid vectors, Rodriguez also developed a research program to understand the physiological systems of rice (Oryza sativa) at the molecular level. Rodriguez dedicated his laboratory to investigating the molecular biology of rice gene systems related to seed germination. This program explained the function, sequence, and organization of the rice alpha-amylase multigene familyHuang, N., Sutliff, T.D., Litts, J.C. and Rodriguez, R.L. 1990. Classification and characterization of the rice alpha-amylase multigene family. Plant Mol. Biol. 14:655-668.Rodriguez, R., Huang, N. Sutliff, T., Ranjhan, S., Karrer, E., and Litts, J. C. 1991. Organization, structure and expression of the rice alpha-amylase multigene family. In, Rice Genetics II. Manila, pp. 417-429.. One of the outcomes of this research was the use of alpha-amylase gene promoters to express human proteins in rice cellsHuang J, Sutliff TD, Wu L, Nandi S, Benge K, Terashima M, Ralston AH, Drohan W, Huang N, Rodriguez RL. Expression and purification of functional human alpha-1-Antitrypsin from cultured plant cells. Biotechnol Prog. 2001 Jan-Feb;17(1):126-33. doi: 10.1021/bp0001516. PMID: 11170490. in culture mediaHuang J., Sutliff, T.D., Wu, L., Nandi, Somen, Benge, Kelli, Terashima, M., Ralston, A., Drohan, W. Huang, N. and Rodriguez, R.L. 2001. Expression and purification of functional recombinant human alpha-1-antitrypsin from cultured plant cells. Biotechnol. Prog. 17:126-133.. These findings led to patents were then used for Ventria BioscienceVentria Bioscience. (2019, January 6). Home. https://ventria.com/ (formally Applied Phytologics Inc.), a biotechnology company founded by Rodriguez in 1993. 
From 1992 to 1994, Rodriguez served as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at UC Davis. As associate dean, he created a program called Professors for the FutureUniversity of California, Davis. (2020, April 1). Professors for the Future - About. GradPathways Institute for Professional Development. https://gradpathways.ucdavis.edu/pftf-about that provided professional development, leadership training, and mentoring to high-performing and high-potential graduate students. 
As Executive Director of the Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics, Rodriguez coordinated the research activities of over 50 research faculty, physicians, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. During his time as Center director, Center researchers published over 250 research publications and two volumes on diet-gene interactions and their relationship to human health and disease. These included, Nutrigenomics: Discovering the Path to Personalized NutritionKaput, J., & Rodriguez, R. L. (2006). Nutritional Genomics: Discovering the Path to Personalized Nutrition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/0471781797
 with Dr. Jim Kaput and Nutritional Genomics: Impact of Dietary Regulation of Gene Function on Human DiseaseBidlack, W. R., & Rodriguez, R. L. (2011). Nutritional Genomics: The Impact of Dietary Regulation of Gene Function on Human Disease (1st ed.). CRC Press. with professor Wayne BidlackDon B. Huntley College of Agriculture. (n.d.). In Memoriam: Wayne Bidlack. Cal Poly Pomona. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://www.cpp.edu/agri/news/2018-bidlack-obit.shtml. In addition to his duties as Center director, Rodriguez maintained a research program to investigate the role of dietary factors with abilities to promote epigenetic changes on genes related to reduced cancer riskGalvez, A.F., Huang, L., Magbanua, M.M.J. Dawson, K. R. L. Rodriguez. 2011. Differential Expression of Thrombospondin (THBS1) in Turmorigenic and Nontumorigenic Prostate Epithelial Cells in Response to a Chromatin-Binding Soy Peptide. Nutrition and Cancer 63(4):623-636.
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In 2012, Rodriguez receive a grant from the Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA) to investigate the production of human butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), an enzyme used to treat the effects of chemical warfare agents, like Sarin gasCorbin, J.M., Hashimoto, B.I., Karuppanan, K., Kyser, Z. R., Wu, L., Roberts, B.A., Noe, A.R., Rodriguez, R.L., McDonald, K.A., and Nandi, S. 2016. Semicontinuous bioreactor production of recombinant butyrylcholinesterase in transgenic rice cell suspension cultures. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7 (412): 1-8, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2016.00412.. Using the fermentation of rice cells transformed with the human BuChE gene, the plant-made enzyme was produced and found to be as effective as human-sourced BuChE in neutralizing SarinCorbin, J.M., Kailemia, M. J., Cadieux, L. C., Alkanaimsh, S., Karuppanan, K., Rodriguez, R.L., Lebrilla, C.B., Cerasoli, D.M., McDonald, K.A., and Nandi, S. 2018. Purification, Characterization, and N-glycosylation of Recombinant Butyrylcholinesterase from Transgenic Rice Cell Suspension Cultures. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 1-10. DOI: 10.1002/bit.26557
Throughout his career, Rodriguez provided educational and research opportunities for racial/ethnic minorities (REM) and women in STEM. From 1980 to 1994, he provided undergraduate research experiences for REMs and women from various California State Universities, NIH MBRSCal State LA. (2017, January 10). MBRS-RISE Undergraduate Scholars Program. https://www.calstatela.edu/centers/moreprograms/rise/rise.htm/MARCNational Institute of General Medical Sciences. (n.d.). Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Awards (T34). Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://www.nigms.nih.gov/training/marc/pages/ustarawards.aspx programs, and select HBCUs around the U.S.. From 2001 to 2002, Rodriguez served as a member and eventually chair of the Advisory Council, for what is now the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities. From 2005 to 2016 Rodriguez served as a member of the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s HealthNational Institutes of Health. (n.d.). Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH). National Institutes of Health: Office of Research on Women’s Health. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://orwh.od.nih.gov/career-development-education/building-interdisciplinary-research-careers-womens-health-bircwh#:%7E:text=The%20Building%20Interdisciplinary%20Research%20Careers,health%20and%20sex%2Ddifferences%20research. (BIRCWH) program at the UC Davis Medical Center. In 2016, he was a member of the UC Davis NIH Postbaccalaureate Research Education ProgramNational Institute of General Medical Sciences. (n.d.-b). Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) (R25). Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://www.nigms.nih.gov/training/PREP (PREP) Internal Advisory and Steering Committees. From 2012 to 2017, Rodriguez served as co-Principle Investigator and member of the NSF ADVANCENational Science Foundation. (n.d.). ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5383/ CAMPOSUniversity of California, Davis. (2013, February 26). CAMPOS Initiative. UC Davis ADVANCE. https://ucd-advance.ucdavis.edu/campos program designed to increase the number of REM women faculty members in STEM-focused departments at UC Davis.
In 2013, Rodriguez received funding from Intel Corporation to organize the first Girls Who Code summer immersion course on a university campus to give high school girlsGlobal HealthShare. (2013a, July 16). Girls Who Code Summer Update. Global HealthShare Initiative. https://globalhealthshare.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/girls-who-code-summer-update/ exposure to computer programming and other high-tech jobs skills needed to prepare for careers in computer science. From 1997 to 2006, Rodriguez served on the Board of Directors for the Sexual Assault Domestic Violence Center of Yolo County, (now known as Empower YoloEmpower Yolo). (n.d.). Empower Yolo. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://empoweryolo.org/. As chairman of the fundraising committee, he helped raise funds to build a state-of-the-art shelter for women and children escaping violent environments.
* Bolivar, F., R.L. Rodriguez, P.J. Greene, M.C. Betlach, H.L. Heyneker, Boyer H.W. Crosa, J.H. S. Falkow. 1977. Construction and characterization of new cloning vehicles. II. A multipurpose cloning system. Gene, 2:95. (Citation Classic)
* Neve, R.L., R.W. West and R.L. Rodriguez. 1979. Eukaryotic DNA fragments which act as promoters for a plasmid gene. Nature 277:324-325. 
* Rodriguez, R.L., R.W. West, H.L. Heyneker, F. Bolivar, and H.W. Boyer. 1979. Characterizing wild-type and mutant promoters of the tetracycline resistance gene in pBR313. Nucl. Acids Res. 6(10):3267.
* West, R.W., Jr. and R.L. Rodriguez. 1980. Construction and characterization of E. coli promoter-probe plasmid vectors. II. RNA polymerase binding studies on antibiotic-resistance promoters. Gene. 9:175-193. 
* Goldfarb, D.S., R.H. Doi and R. L. Rodriguez. 1981. Expression of Tn9-derived chloramphenicol resistance in Bacillus subtilis. Nature 293:309-311.
* Goldfarb, D.S., R.L. Rodriguez and R.H. Doi. 1982. Translational block to expression of the E. coli Tn9-derived chloramphenicol-resistance gene in Bacillus subtilis Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 79:5886-5890.
* Karrer, E.E. and Rodriguez, R.L. 1992. Metabolic regulation of rice alpha-amylase and sucrose synthase genes in planta. The Plant Journal, 2(4):517-523.
* Huang, N., Stebbins, G.L. and Rodriguez, R.L. 1992. Classification and evolution of alpha-amylase genes in plants. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:7526-7530. 
* Mitsunaga, S., Rodriguez, R.L. and Yamaguchi, J. 1994. Sequence-specific interactions of a nuclear protein factor with the promoter of a rice gene for alpha-amylase, RAamy3D.. Nucl. Acids Res. 22:1948-1953. 
* Itoh, K., Yamaguchi, J. Huang, N., Rodriguez, R.L., Akazawa, T. and Shimamoto, K. 1995. Developmental and Hormonal Regulation of Rice -Amylase (RAmy1A)-gusA Fusion Genes in Transgenic Rice Seeds. Plant Physiol. 107: 25-31. 
* Terashima, M., Murai, Y., Kawamura, M., Nakanishi, S., Stoltz, T. Chen, L., Drohan, W., Rodriguez, R.L. and Katoh, S. 1999. Production of functional human alpha-1-antitrypsin in plant cell culture. Applied Microbial Biotechnology. 52:516-516. 
* Jaggers, G.K., Watkins, B. A., Watkins and R. L. Rodriguez. 2020. COVID-19: Repositioning nutrition research for the next pandemic. Nutrition Research, COVID-19: repositioning nutrition research for the next pandemic
* 2018 Collaborative Professor, ICBiotech Osaka University, Suita CampusOsaka University. (n.d.). Suita campus. 大阪大学. Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/access/suita, Osaka Japan
* 2018 UC Davis CAMPOS Inaugural Hall of Fame member
* 2018 Outstanding Alumni, College of Science & Mathematics Fresno State University
* 2016 Principles of Community Award, College of Biol. Sci.
* 2008 USDA-ARS Beltsville Center Distinguished Lecturer
* 1997 Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, College of Biol. Sci.	
* 1977 University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship
* 1973 Ford Foundation Graduate Fellowship
* 1970 American Association for the Advancement of Science
* 1979 Sigma Xi Society	
* 1982 Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, (SACNAS) Lifetime Member/Friend of the Society
* 1989 American Society of Plant Biologists
* 1990 Intl. Society for Plant Molecular Biology
* 2000 American Chemical Society
* 2019 Program Manager, Master Collaborative Agreement between UC Davis and Kirin Holdings Co. LimitedUniversity of California, Davis. (n.d.). Kirin Joins Osaka University and UC Davis to Train the Next Generation of Plant Biotechnologists. UC Davis Grad Studies. Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://grad.ucdavis.edu/news/kirin-joins-osaka-university-and-uc-davis-train-next-generation-plant-biotechnologists
* 2019 Chair, UC Davis/Osaka Univ. Faculty - Grad Student Exchange Program Steering Committee 
* 2015 Presenter, US President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology (PCAST)US Department of Energy. (2020, June 24). President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Office of Science. https://science.osti.gov/About/PCAST
* 2007-2008 Chair, Committee of Visitors, NSF Directorate for Biol. Sci., Plant Genome Research Program 3-Year Review
* 2002 Chair, Advisory Council, National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities
* 2001 Chair, Advisory Committee for the NIH Office for Research on Minority Health
* 1999 Chair, Strategic Planning Committee for the NIH Office on Research on Minority Health
* 1992 Chair, Fulbright/Rhodes Fellowship Committee, UC Davis Office of Graduate Studies
* 1992 Director, Professors for the Future Program, UC Davis Office of Graduate Studies
* 1992 Co-Director, UC Davis Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Science and Engineering (SURPRISE), Office of Graduate Studies
* 1991 Chair, External Review Panel for the Norwegian Agricultural Biotechnology Program 
* 1990 Visiting Scientist, Human Genome Project, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
* 1989 Chair, International Rice Genome Organization
* 1984 Director, Summer Undergraduate Affirmative Action Research Program, UC Davis
* 1981 Chair, UC Davis Graduate Admissions Committee for the Genetics Graduate Group
* 1980 Chair, UC Davis Biological Hazards Safety Committee
* 2014-2020 Vice President, Humanity Beyond BarriersHumanity Beyond Barriers. (n.d.). About Us – Humanity Beyond Barriers. Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://www.humanitybeyondbarriers.org/about-us/#\
* 2011 Consultant, Institute for the Future, Palo Alto CA
* 2000 Founder, Chairman and CEO, Davis Bioscience Group, LLC
* 1999 Member, Board of Directors, Ventria Bioscience Inc., 
* 1997 Member, Board of Directors, Yolo County Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center (Empower Yolo)Raymond (Ray) Rodriguez. (n.d.). Experience. [LinkedIn page]. LinkedIn. Retrieved March 8, 2020, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymond-rodriguez-b10b116/ 
* 1993-2000 Founder and Chairman of the Board, Ventria Bioscience Inc. (formally Applied Phytologics Inc.)
Category:1947 births
Category:Fresno City College alumni
Category:California State University, Fresno alumni
Category:University of California, Santa Cruz alumni
Category:American people
Category:American medical researchers
Category:American scientists