Senior Management Team
Edison Liu, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Edison T. Liu is an international leader in cancer biology, genomics, human genetics and molecular epidemiology. He joined The Jackson Laboratory as President and CEO in January 2012 after an extensive international search.
Dr. Liu founded the Genome Institute of Singapore in 2001, building it in less than 10 years from a staff of three to a major research institute of 27 laboratory groups and a staff of 270. From 1996 to 2001, he was the scientific director of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Clinical Sciences in Bethesda, Md. He is serving his second term as the elected president of the international Human Genome Organization (HUGO). From 1987 to 1996 he held various faculty positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the departments of medicine, epidemiology, biochemistry and biophysics, and in the curriculum in genetics. He also held leadership positions at UNC including director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center's Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Breast Cancer and the Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology in the School of Public Health.
Dr. Liu obtained his B.S. in chemistry and psychology, as well as his M.D., at Stanford University. He served his internship and residency at Washington University's Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, followed by an oncology fellowship at Stanford. From 1982 to 1987 he was at the University of California, San Francisco, first in a hematology fellowship at Moffitt Hospital and then as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate J. Michael Bishop, while also serving as an instructor in the School of Medicine.
Dr. Liu is married and has three children. In his spare time, he enjoys jazz piano and composition, and writes for the lay public in newspapers and magazines about science, medicine and society.
Watch video introducing Dr. Liu
Robert Braun, Ph.D.
Associate Director and Chair of Research; Professor
Bob Braun, a distinguished scientist in the field of reproductive genetics, joined The Jackson Laboratory in 2007 after more than 20 years at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where he served as professor of genome sciences and as director and co-director, respectively, of two different University programs in reproductive biology research. Dr. Braun earned his undergraduate degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology, chemistry and mathematics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and his Ph.D. in the Tufts University School of Medicine department of microbiology. The recipient of many honors and awards, Dr. Braun has also been a visiting scientist at the Medical Research Council in England and, in 2001-2002, at The Jackson Laboratory.
Leah Rae Donahue, Ph.D.Director of Genetic Resource Science; Senior Research Scientist
A researcher renowned for her work in bone density and craniofacial defects, Leah Rae Donahue also directs The Jackson Laboratory’s Genetic Resource Science unit. The GRS team develops and distributes new mouse models of human diseases and other innovative research tools to the worldwide scientific community. Dr. Donahue, who holds undergraduate, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Maine, came to the Laboratory in 1992 following research and practice in human nutrition; she is still a registered dietician with the American Dietetic Association and is a member of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research and International Mammalian Genome Society.
Charles E. Hewett, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Chuck Hewett has served the Lab since 2004. During his tenure, he has overseen the launch of numerous research products and services, the modernization of mouse production facilities, completion of new research laboratories in Bar Harbor, and the relocation and expansion of the Lab’s California operation. Among other responsibilities, leading the Lab’s nonprofit research resources and services business, Hewett and his team have placed the Lab on the most solid financial footings of its 80+ year history despite the market collapse in 2008-2009. Surplus generated by the mouse and services business has approximately quintupled during this period while the Lab’s footprint on both coasts has nearly doubled. Prior to joining the Laboratory, as CEO of Atlantic Energy Partners, Hewett successfully developed a $650 million underwater electric transmission system connecting Long Island, NY, to New Jersey which now provides almost one quarter of Long Island’s power. In the mid 1990s Dr. Hewett served for three years as Chief Operating Officer of the Executive Branch of the State of Maine under Governor Angus King. Earlier in his career, he held chief executive posts in international pharmaceuticals, electricity generation, and natural resource management. He has developed companies, facilities, and projects in Europe and Asia as well as in North America. Hewett holds a Phi Beta Kappa BA from Williams College and MFS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University.
Michael E. HydeVice President for Advancement and External Relations
Mike Hyde is responsible for Communications, Development, Government Relations, and Corporate & Foundation Relations at The Jackson Laboratory. His accomplishments include helping negotiate the Laboratory’s new JAX Genomic Medicine expansion in Connecticut, leading an institutional re-branding, establishing a new Communications Office, reorganizing fundraising efforts, and creating The National Council, a network of Jackson supporters. He also represents the Laboratory on the board of directors of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. Before joining the Laboratory in 2006, Hyde had a long career as a collegiate marketer and fundraiser. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Missouri, Columbia. Hyde is married, has three adult children, and lives in Trenton, Maine. He enjoys woodworking and antiques.
Linda Jensen, M.S.Chief Financial Officer
Linda Jensen, a senior executive with extensive experience in organizational and project financial management, came to The Jackson Laboratory in 2005 from Select Energy Services, Inc., where she served as vice president for finance. At the multi-office engineering firm (a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities, a $6 billion utility holding company), Jensen's projects included structured finance for federal, state and local government clients, as well as health care and educational institutions. Ms. Jensen's career also includes financial positions with Century III, Inc., Health Systems, Inc., and the multinational Boston Consulting Group, Inc. She holds a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan School of Business Administration and an M.S. from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.