Richard P. Novick

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Richard P. Novick is an American microbiologist best known for his work in the fields of plasmid biology, staphylococcal pathobiology and antimicrobial resistance. [1] He is the Recanati Family Professor of Science, Emeritus, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and is a member of the American National Academy of Sciences. [2] [3] Novick has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles, and several book reviews for the Times Literary Supplement, and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [4] [5]

Contents

Early life

Novick was born in New York City on August 10, 1932. He as spent most of his life in that city, with the exception of college and medical internship at Yale, residency at Vanderbilt, and a post-doctoral fellowship in London.

Education and career

Novick received a B.A, magna cum laude from Yale and an MD with honors in Microbiology from NYU School of Medicine, performing his honors thesis research in the laboratory of Werner Maas on the biochemistry of leaky mutants in arginine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli, coining the term bradytroph as a descriptor. [6] [7] [8] [9] He interned at Yale-New Haven Hospital under Paul Beeson and performed post-doctoral research along with Mark Richmond in the Laboratory of Martin Pollock, at the National Institute for Medical Research in London, where he developed the micro-iodometric assay for beta-lactamase, [10] and identified the first plasmid in S. aureus. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] Following a year as a resident in Medicine at Vanderbilt, under David Rogers, he returned to New York for a second post-doctoral, with Rollin Hotchkiss at the Rockefeller Institute, where he published a seminal paper on staphylococcal plasmids [16] [17] and then moved to the Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York (PHRI), . While at PHRI, he discovered heavy metal resistance in bacteria, [18] showing that was carried by plasmids [19] [20] developed a set of molecular tools for the study of staphylococcal molecular genetics [21] [22] and schemes for the nomenclature of bacterial plasmids [23] [24] and transposons. [25] [26] At the 1975 Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA, he served as Chairman of the ”plasmid group” ( with members Roy Clowes, Stan Cohen, Roy Curtiss, and Stanley Falkow), and wrote a major portion of the NIH Guidelines for Research with Recombinant DNA. [27] In 1981 he succeeded George Hirst as Director of the Institute and, in 1993, moved to NYU School of Medicine, becoming the Recanati Family Professor of Science in 2010. [28] There, he developed a cassette-based set of cloning vectors [29] now in worldwide use, and over the years developed the world’s largest collection of staphylococcal research strains (>12,000). [30] [31]

Novick has mentored 25 PhD students and 49 Post-doctorals, notably Saleem Khan and Emmanuelle Charpentier. [32]

Research

Novick’s research has mainly been in the field of staphylococcal pathobiology. His mathematical analysis of plasmid incompatibility, in collaboration with Frank Hoppensteadt, was a major advance in plasmid biology [33] as was his demonstration that plasmid replication initiator proteins are, de rigueur, used only once and then inactivated. [34] At NYU, he discovered and characterized a key global regulator of staphylococcal virulence, the agr system [35] of which the effector is RNAIII, and discovered a pathogenicity island family in the staphylococcal chromosome, now known as SaPIs, many of which encode toxic shock toxin. [36] SaPIs turned out to be highly mobile and very widespread in staphylococci and to have a major role in horizontal gene transfer; his lab, led by Drs. Geeta Ram and Hope Ross, converted these mobile islands from agents of disease into antibacterial therapeutic agents (Antibacterial Drones (ABDs)), [37] [38] that could have a major role in the therapy of staphylococcal and other bacterial infections in this era of rampant antibiotic resistance. The ABD is indifferent to antibiotic resistance and is designed to avoid resistance. It acts by delivering to bacteria in an infection several bactericidal genes, which kill the bacteria and cure the infection. A patent on this technology has recently been issued, with Drs. Ram, Ross and Novick as joint inventors, and the Novick lab is currently working on commercialization; [39] to achieve this, they have founded a biotech startup, ABD Therapeutics, Inc. which is actively seeking investment capital.

Personal life

Novick is married to Barbara Zabin Novick, a retired neuropsychologist. They have two children, Lynn Novick, a documentary film maker and Dorothy Novick, a pediatrician and journalist, and 5 grandchildren.

Novick is a wood turner, a collector of Pre-Columbian figurines, a home brewer of apple cider and apple jack, a wild mushroom expert and a political activist, focusing primarily on the misuse of antibiotics in animal feed, a position for which he was profiled in The New Yorker. [40] He and colleagues Roy Curtiss, Julian Davies and others resigned in protest from the CAST Task Force on Antibiotics in Feed, in 1979, [41] and his prophetic paper, Antibiotics, Wonder Drugs or Chicken Feed, was published in The Sciences. [42]

References

  1. Novick, R. P. (December 1987). "journals.asm.org". Microbiological Reviews. 51 (4): 381–395. doi:10.1128/mr.51.4.381-395.1987. PMC   373122 . PMID   3325793.
  2. "Richard P. Novick". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  3. "Richard Novick - Editorial Board - Plasmid - Journal - Elsevier". www.journals.elsevier.com. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  4. Marino, Melissa (2007-09-04). "Profile of Richard P. Novick". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (36): 14179–14181. Bibcode:2007PNAS..10414179M. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0707438104 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   1964851 . PMID   17728399.
  5. Ram, Geeta; Chen, John; Ross, Hope F; Novick, Richard P (2015-04-03). "An insight into staphylococcal pathogenicity island-mediated interference with phage late gene transcription". Bacteriophage. 5 (2): e1028608. doi:10.1080/21597081.2015.1028608. ISSN   2159-7081. PMC   4588161 . PMID   26459624.
  6. Novick, Richard P.; Maas, Werner K. (February 1961). "CONTROL BY ENDOGENOUSLY SYNTHESIZED ARGININE OF THE FORMATION OF ORNITHINE TRANSCARBAMYLASE IN ESCHERICHIA COLI". Journal of Bacteriology. 81 (2): 236–240. doi:10.1128/jb.81.2.236-240.1961. ISSN   0021-9193. PMC   278992 . PMID   13729753.
  7. "AWADmail 721". Wordsmith.org. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  8. "Richard P. Novick". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  9. "Richard P. Novick". med.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  10. Novick, Rp (1962-05-01). "Micro-iodometric assay for penicillinase". Biochemical Journal. 83 (2): 236–240. doi:10.1042/bj0830236. ISSN   0006-2936. PMC   1243538 . PMID   14480578.
  11. Novick, R. P.; Richmond, M. H. (August 1965). "Nature and Interactions of the Genetic Elements Governing Penicillinase Synthesis in Staphylococcus aureus". Journal of Bacteriology. 90 (2): 467–480. doi:10.1128/jb.90.2.467-480.1965. ISSN   0021-9193. PMC   315668 . PMID   14329463.
  12. Marino, Melissa (2007-09-04). "Profile of Richard P. Novick". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (36): 14179–14181. Bibcode:2007PNAS..10414179M. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0707438104 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   1964851 . PMID   17728399.
  13. Fournier, Bénédicte; Klier, André (November 2003). "Response to the criticisms of Richard P. Novick in his review 'Autoinduction and signal transduction in the regulation of staphylococcal virulence' (Novick, 2003, Mol Microbiol 48: 1429–1449)". Molecular Microbiology. 50 (3): 1085–1086. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.2003.03792.x . ISSN   0950-382X. PMID   14617163. S2CID   27453467.
  14. Maiques, Elisa; Úbeda, Carles; Campoy, Susana; Salvador, Noelia; Lasa, Íñigo; Novick, Richard P.; Barbé, Jordi; Penadés, José R. (April 2006). "β-Lactam Antibiotics Induce the SOS Response and Horizontal Transfer of Virulence Factors in Staphylococcus aureus". Journal of Bacteriology. 188 (7): 2726–2729. doi:10.1128/JB.188.7.2726-2729.2006. ISSN   0021-9193. PMC   1428414 . PMID   16547063.
  15. Novick, Richard P.; Maas, Werner K. (February 1961). "CONTROL BY ENDOGENOUSLY SYNTHESIZED ARGININE OF THE FORMATION OF ORNITHINE TRANSCARBAMYLASE IN ESCHERICHIA COLI". Journal of Bacteriology. 81 (2): 236–240. doi:10.1128/jb.81.2.236-240.1961. ISSN   0021-9193. PMC   278992 . PMID   13729753.
  16. Maguin, E; Duwat, P; Hege, T; Ehrlich, D; Gruss, A (September 1992). "New thermosensitive plasmid for gram-positive bacteria". Journal of Bacteriology. 174 (17): 5633–5638. doi:10.1128/jb.174.17.5633-5638.1992. ISSN   0021-9193. PMC   206509 . PMID   1324906.
  17. Marino, Melissa (2007-09-04). "Profile of Richard P. Novick". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (36): 14179–14181. Bibcode:2007PNAS..10414179M. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0707438104 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   1964851 . PMID   17728399.
  18. Dhasmana, Neha; Ram, Geeta; McAllister, Kathleen N.; Chupalova, Yulia; Lopez, Peter; Ross, Hope F.; Novick, Richard P. (2021-12-21). Vidaver, Anne K. (ed.). "Dynamics of Antibacterial Drone Establishment in Staphylococcus aureus: Unexpected Effects of Antibiotic Resistance Genes". mBio. 12 (6): e0208321. doi:10.1128/mBio.02083-21. ISSN   2150-7511. PMC   8593670 . PMID   34781740.
  19. Novick, Richard P.; Roth, Christine (April 1968). "Plasmid-linked Resistance to Inorganic Salts in Staphylococcus aureus". Journal of Bacteriology. 95 (4): 1335–1342. doi:10.1128/jb.95.4.1335-1342.1968. ISSN   0021-9193. PMC   315091 . PMID   5646621.
  20. Dhasmana, Neha; Ram, Geeta; McAllister, Kathleen N.; Chupalova, Yulia; Lopez, Peter; Ross, Hope F.; Novick, Richard P. (2021-12-21). Vidaver, Anne K. (ed.). "Dynamics of Antibacterial Drone Establishment in Staphylococcus aureus: Unexpected Effects of Antibiotic Resistance Genes". mBio. 12 (6): e0208321. doi:10.1128/mBio.02083-21. ISSN   2150-7511. PMC   8593670 . PMID   34781740.
  21. Novick, Richard P. (1991), "Genetic systems in Staphylococci", Bacterial Genetic Systems , Methods in Enzymology, vol. 204, Elsevier, pp. 587–636, doi:10.1016/0076-6879(91)04029-n, ISBN   978-0-12-182105-0, PMID   1658572 , retrieved 2023-07-20
  22. "cell.com".
  23. Novick, R. P.; Clowes, R. C.; Cohen, S. N.; Curtiss, R.; Datta, N.; Falkow, S. (March 1976). "Uniform nomenclature for bacterial plasmids: a proposal". Bacteriological Reviews. 40 (1): 168–189. doi:10.1128/br.40.1.168-189.1976. ISSN   0005-3678. PMC   413948 . PMID   1267736.
  24. Novick, Richard (1967-09-01). "Properties of a cryptic high-frequency transducing phage in Staphylococcus aureus" . Virology. 33 (1): 155–166. doi:10.1016/0042-6822(67)90105-5. ISSN   0042-6822. PMID   4227577.
  25. Campbell, A.; Berg, D.; Botstein, D.; Lederberg, E. M.; Novick, R. P.; Starlinger, P.; Szybalski, W. (1979-03-01). "Nomenclature of transposable elements in prokaryotes" . Gene. 5 (3): 197–206. doi:10.1016/0378-1119(79)90078-7. ISSN   0378-1119. PMID   467979.
  26. Projan, Steven J.; Novick, Richard (1988-05-01). "Comparative analysis of five related staphylococcal plasmids" . Plasmid. 19 (3): 203–221. doi:10.1016/0147-619X(88)90039-X. ISSN   0147-619X. PMID   2852816.
  27. National Institutes of Health (U.S.). Office of the Director (1976). Recombinant DNA research : documents relating to "NIH guidelines for research involving recombinant DNA molecules". University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. [Bethesda, Md.] : U. S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health; Washington : for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U. S. Govt. Print. Off.
  28. Duhaime-Ross, Arielle (2015-12-30). "Theranos' proprietary tech wasn't vetted by federal inspectors for two years". The Verge. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  29. Charpentier, Emmanuelle; Anton, Ana I.; Barry, Peter; Alfonso, Berenice; Fang, Yuan; Novick, Richard P. (October 2004). "Novel Cassette-Based Shuttle Vector System for Gram-Positive Bacteria". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 70 (10): 6076–6085. Bibcode:2004ApEnM..70.6076C. doi:10.1128/AEM.70.10.6076-6085.2004. ISSN   0099-2240. PMC   522135 . PMID   15466553.
  30. Traber, Katrina; Novick, Richard (March 2006). "A slipped-mispairing mutation in AgrA of laboratory strains and clinical isolates results in delayed activation of agr and failure to translate δ- and α-haemolysins: agrA mutation resulting in late agr activation". Molecular Microbiology. 59 (5): 1519–1530. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2006.04986.x . PMID   16468992. S2CID   82413638.
  31. Dhasmana, Neha; Ram, Geeta; McAllister, Kathleen N.; Chupalova, Yulia; Lopez, Peter; Ross, Hope F.; Novick, Richard P. (2021-12-21). Vidaver, Anne K. (ed.). "Dynamics of Antibacterial Drone Establishment in Staphylococcus aureus: Unexpected Effects of Antibiotic Resistance Genes". mBio. 12 (6): e0208321. doi:10.1128/mBio.02083-21. ISSN   2150-7511. PMC   8593670 . PMID   34781740.
  32. "Emmanuelle Charpentier life story". www.kavliprize.org. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  33. Bermudes, D; Hinkle, G; Margulis, L (September 1994). "Do prokaryotes contain microtubules?". Microbiological Reviews. 58 (3): 387–400. doi:10.1128/mr.58.3.387-400.1994. ISSN   0146-0749. PMC   372974 . PMID   7968920.
  34. Rasooly, A.; Novick, R. P. (1993-11-12). "Replication-specific inactivation of the pT181 plasmid initiator protein". Science. 262 (5136): 1048–1050. Bibcode:1993Sci...262.1048R. doi:10.1126/science.8235621. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   8235621.
  35. Peng, H. L.; Novick, R. P.; Kreiswirth, B.; Kornblum, J.; Schlievert, P. (September 1988). "Cloning, characterization, and sequencing of an accessory gene regulator (agr) in Staphylococcus aureus". Journal of Bacteriology. 170 (9): 4365–4372. doi:10.1128/jb.170.9.4365-4372.1988. ISSN   0021-9193. PMC   211451 . PMID   2457579.
  36. Lindsay, J. A.; Ruzin, A.; Ross, H. F.; Kurepina, N.; Novick, R. P. (July 1998). "The gene for toxic shock toxin is carried by a family of mobile pathogenicity islands in Staphylococcus aureus". Molecular Microbiology. 29 (2): 527–543. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.1998.00947.x . ISSN   0950-382X. PMID   9720870. S2CID   30680160.
  37. Ram, Geeta; Ross, Hope F.; Novick, Richard P.; Rodriguez-Pagan, Ivelisse; Jiang, Dunrong (November 2018). "Conversion of staphylococcal pathogenicity islands to CRISPR-carrying antibacterial agents that cure infections in mice". Nature Biotechnology. 36 (10): 971–976. doi:10.1038/nbt.4203. ISSN   1546-1696. PMC   6511514 . PMID   30247487.
  38. Ram, Geeta; Ross, Hope F.; Novick, Richard P.; Rodriguez-Pagan, Ivelisse; Jiang, Dunrong (November 2018). "Conversion of staphylococcal pathogenicity islands to CRISPR-carrying antibacterial agents that cure infections in mice". Nature Biotechnology. 36 (10): 971–976. doi:10.1038/nbt.4203. ISSN   1546-1696. PMC   6511514 . PMID   30247487.
  39. US 11149269,Novick, Richard; Ross, Hope Forer& Ram, Geeta,"Compositions and methods for non-antibiotic treating of bacterial infections by blocking or disrupting bacterial genes involved in virulence or viability",published 2021-10-19, assigned to New York University
  40. "The New Yorker April 30, 1984 Issue". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  41. "Biomedical Politics" (PDF).
  42. Charpentier, Emmanuelle; Anton, Ana I.; Barry, Peter; Alfonso, Berenice; Fang, Yuan; Novick, Richard P. (October 2004). "Novel Cassette-Based Shuttle Vector System for Gram-Positive Bacteria". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 70 (10): 6076–6085. Bibcode:2004ApEnM..70.6076C. doi:10.1128/AEM.70.10.6076-6085.2004. ISSN   0099-2240. PMC   522135 . PMID   15466553.