Richard H. Ebright is a Board of Governors Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University and Laboratory Director at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology. He directs a biomedical research laboratory and serve as project leader on two National Institutes of Health research grants. He conducts research on the mechanism of bacterial RNA synthesis and on the development of new antibacterial therapeutic agents able to treat bacterial infections resistant to current drugs. His research involves both priority public health bacterial pathogens (e.g., the pathogens responsible for Staph infections, Strep infections, and tuberculosis) and priority biodefense bacterial pathogens (e.g., the pathogens responsible for anthrax, plague, and tularemia). He is a member of the Institutional Biosafety Committee of Rutgers University. He has been a member of the Working Group on Pathogen Security of the state of New Jersey, the Controlling Dangerous Pathogens Project of the Center for International Security Studies, and the Biosecurity Advisory Board of the Center for Civilian Biodefense. He was also a founding member of the Cambridge Working Group.