Gerald Rubin

Scientists at Janelia work together in multidisciplinary teams to solve challenging biological problems that are difficult to address in other research settings.

Many lab spaces at Janelia feature modular designs and natural light.

Credit: Brad Feinknopf

Occupying 689 wooded acres along the Potomac River, Janelia Farm provides a variety of services and facilities to support its diverse community of scientists and staff—inside and outside the lab.

A view of the Janelia Farm Research Campus at dusk.

Credit: Brad Feinknopf

The Janelia Farm model frees scientists of constraints commonly found in other research environments, providing access to world-class resources and a talented support staff.

Graduate scholar John Tuthill prepares a Drosophila specimen for imaging.

Credit: James Kegley

In addition to our resident scientists and fellows, we offer visiting scientists, graduate, and undergraduate candidates a range of scientific programs.

Graduate scholar Arbora Resulaj (left) and her mentor, Janelia Fellow Dmitry Rinberg (right).

Credit: James Kegley

Janelia Farm regularly hosts scientific meetings, ranging from workshops to intensive, specialized conferences. See what's coming up and visit the archive of past events.

Janelia's large auditorium seats 250 people.

Credit: Matt Staley

Janelia provides outstanding employment opportunities, at all levels.

Credit: James Kegley

Many tools developed in Janelia Farm labs are made freely available to outside researchers, while others are taking shape through collaborations with industry, academia, and government.

A virtual arena for the study of flight in insects.

Credit: James Kegley

Janelia’s sense of community comes from a core belief that people of diverse disciplines and backgrounds can accomplish great things when working with a common purpose.

Research specialist Trevor Wardill (left) and group leader Vivek Jayaraman (right).

Credit: James Kegley

Rubin Lab

Executive Director

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Vice President, HHMI, and Executive Director, Janelia Farm Research Campus

A vice president of HHMI since 2000, Gerald M. Rubin was named in 2003 the first director of HHMI’s Janelia Farm Research Campus. At Janelia, Rubin directs scientific programs designed to speed the development and application of new tools for transforming the study of biology and medicine. A 760,000 square-foot biomedical research complex in Ashburn, Virginia, which opened in the summer of 2006, Janelia will eventually accommodate a research staff more than 300. It houses laboratories and provides short-term housing for visiting researchers, along with a conference center.

Rubin served as HHMI's vice president for biomedical research from 2000 to 2002, when he was appointed vice president and director of planning for Janelia Farm. Before moving to HHMI headquarters, Rubin was an HHMI investigator at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was the John D. MacArthur Professor of Genetics in the department of molecular and cellular biology. An internationally recognized geneticist, Rubin led the publicly funded effort to sequence the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster genome. In addition, his laboratory works to determine the function of fruit fly genes that have homology to human genes.

Rubin received his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Cambridge in England. He did postdoctoral work at the Stanford University School of Medicine before joining Harvard Medical School in 1977 as an assistant professor of biological chemistry. In 1980 he joined the Carnegie Institution of Washington as a staff member in the department of embryology, and three years later moved to UC Berkeley. Rubin is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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