Richard H. Ebright

Richard High Ebright is an American molecular biologist. He is Professor II (Distinguished Professor) of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University, Laboratory Director at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Ebright received an A.B. summa cum laude in Biology from Harvard University in 1981, received a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Harvard University in 1987, and was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows from 1984 to 1987. He has performed research on protein-DNA interaction, transcription initiation, transcription activation, and antibacterial drug discovery. In 1994 he was awarded the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Schering-Plough Award for his research on transcription activation. In 1995 he was awarded the Academic Press Walter J. Johnson Prize. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 1996, the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2004, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 2011.

Ebright has opposed the proliferation of laboratories working on biological weapons agents and has supported the strengthening of biosafety and biosecurity measures to reduce risks of release of biological weapons.