Peter A. Schad, Ph.D. Vice President of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology National Center for Genome Resources Santa Fe, New Mexico What do you do? I am the principal investigator for the Genome Sequence Data Base (GSDB), which is one of four public databases in the world containing all the genetic DNA and protein sequence information in the world. I am responsible for managing approximately 15 programmers and 14 biologists with degrees ranging from B.A.s to Ph.D.s. We maintain and develop the GSDB project and interact with large-scale sequencing projects. Our group is also responsible for analyzing the data, as well as for maintaining current data and making it available to molecular biologists, geneticists, the biotech community and the public. What is your educational background? I have a B.A. in biology from Rutgers University, an M.S. in microbiology from The Catholic University of America, and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Oregon Health Sciences University. What was your career path? People in bioinformatics generally come from the fields of genetics/molecular biology or computer/math sciences. I started as a bench scientist primarily in pathogenicity (vaccines, new pathogens). I began to generate large amounts of sequencing information, but there were no good systems to maintain and store the information. This, along with my interest in computers, led me to bioinformatics, a field that focuses on the storage and retrieval of biological information from a database in a biologically meaningful way. What do you enjoy most about your job? It's mentally very challenging, new and exploding with ideas. What do you enjoy least about your job? Personnel problems. What advice would you give someone interested in this field? Get lots of molecular/genetics lab experience and get computer skills, in particular, Java, perl, C++ and relational database management. Bioinformatics Outlook for job opportunities: It's explosive right now. Salary range: B.A./PSG $25,000 to $50,000 M.S. $32,000 to $60,000 Ph.D. $40,000 to $90,000 Related careers: Computer science, molecular biology, genetics, computational biology. Back to Interviewee List