Jay Tischfield

Jay Tischfield (born June 15, 1946) is MacMillan Distinguished Professor and the Founding Chair (1998 - 2010) of the Department of Genetics at Rutgers University.^[1] He is also Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at Rutgers. He is founding director of the Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey (2005 - 2021).

He was the CEO and scientific director of RUCDR Infinite Biologics®^[2] (formerly the Rutgers University Cell & DNA Repository). It was the largest university-based repository in the world collecting, processing and performing genomic assays on human samples.^[3] Rutgers sold RUCDR for $44.4 millilion in 2020, forming IBX which does business under the name Sampled. Tischfield has six U.S patents to his name.^[4]

Education and career

Professor Tischfield obtained his bachelor's degree in biology in 1967 at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College. He finished his master's degree in biology at Yale University in 1969, where he received his PhD in 1973.

At Yale, Tischfield worked on mapping human genes to chromosomes. He used mice-man somatic cell hybrids to determine which genes are located on which chromosomes. Among many others, he identified the gene for indophenol oxidase in mammals.^[5] Later, this gene was identified by researchers from Duke University as the gene coding for the enzyme superoxide dismutase,^[6] which is involved in Down syndrome and some cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Professor Tischfield is a diplomate of the American Board of Medical Genetics in PhD Medical Genetics and Clinical Molecular Genetics. He is a Founding Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics.

Professor Tischfield’s research at Rutgers University focused on the genetic basis of complex diseases that are caused by many genes, frequently in combination, and often triggered by environmental causes. Tischfield’s lab investigates Tourette disorder, alcohol addiction and dihydroxyadenine urolithiasis and cystinuria, kidney diseases characterized by severe kidney stones. The laboratory has developed knockout mouse models for both kidney stone diseases and is developing therapies.^[7] More recently he has developed genomically accurate models of Tourette disorder. ^[8]

A research area begun while Professor at Indiana University School of Medicine (1987 - 1998) focusses on loss of heterozygosity, a side effect of DNA-repair and recombination. Via this mechanism, tumor suppressor genes can be deactivated, leading to cancer.^[9] ^[10] Also, his group discovered and functionally characterized a group of genes encoding a family of phospholipase A genes important in inflammation and inflammatory diseases. ^[11]

Tischfield’s group uses population studies to find genes that are involved in diseases, using samples from the RUCDR Infinite Biologics. In the past, the RUCDR contributed samples to research projects concerning the genetic causes of a type of muscular dystrophy ^[12], alcoholism ^[13], autism ^[14], Tourette disorder ^[15], and others.

In recent years Tischfield's research has turned to the genetic basis of Tourette disorder ^[16] ^[17]. Studies of mouse models were done in collaboration with Max Tischfield ^[18] with the hope of using these mice for drug development.

Professor Tischfield's role has extended from science to University and New Jersey State politics and in 2011 NJBIZ listed Tischfield as being the 85th most powerful person in New Jersey business because of his political influence.^[19]

Personal

Tischfield is married and has three sons, all involved in biological science research. The oldest, Max has his PhD and is Rutgers Univ. Neuroscience faculty, his middle son, Sam has his PhD in computational biology and is a Fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, while the youngest, David is MD-PhD and Assistant Professor at UPenn ^[20]^[21]^[22] Jay Tischfield is also a big fan of Donald Duck.^[23] He took up scuba diving and became certified in 1963 when he was 17, and as of 2020 he had gone diving in Hawaii, throughout the caribbean and in Indonesia.^[23]

Awards

New Jersey Heart of BioNJ Award to Rutgers RUCDR, for first saliva-based COVID-19 test (2022)
Tourette Syndrome Lifetime Achievement Award, New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome (2022)
Recognition Award for Research and Innovation, Healthcare Institute of NJ (2019)
Rutgers Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research (2011)
Election as American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow (2007)^[24]
Duncan and Nancy MacMillan Endowed Chair in Genetics (1999-)
Elliot Ossermann Award for Distinguished Service in Support of Cancer Research, Israel Cancer Research Fund (1994)
Distinguished Alumnus Award and Medal, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York (1990)

References

[1] The Tischfield’s Lab homepage

[2] "Department of Genetics at Rutgers University".

[3] The Rutgers University Cell & DNA repository Archived 2008-08-08 at the Wayback Machine

[4] United States Patent and Trademark Office

[5] Y. H. Tan, J. Tischfield , and F. H. Ruddle: The linkage of genes for the human interferon-induced antiviral protein and indophenol oxidase-B traits to chromosome G-21, The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vol 137, 317-330

[6] History of Superoxide dismutase gene discovery in Pubmed

[7] Jay Tischfield’s research

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[10] [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9345110/.html}

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[19] NJBIZ The 100 most powerful people in New Jersey business

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[22] David Tischfield linkdin

[nj-23] A most unusual Collector

[24] List of AAAS Fellows Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine

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