Charlie Johnson to retire as Genomics and Bioinformatics Service director

Charlie Johnson, Ph.D., founding director of Texas A&M AgriLife Genomics and Bioinformatics Service, TxGen, will retire Sept. 1 after more than 35 years as a researcher advancing genomics technology across agriculture, biotechnology and life sciences.

Johnson began his career in life science research in 1989 and founded TxGen in 2010 as part of a Texas A&M AgriLife Research initiative. He built TxGen into an international genomics service organization supporting researchers across agriculture, natural resources, animal health and life sciences. During his leadership, TxGen supported researchers in every life sciences department of The Texas A&M University System and scientists in 45 countries.

TxGen impacts and accolades

Under Johnson’s direction, TxGen completed nearly 6,000 research projects and processed more than 1 million samples. The facility brought nine generations of sequencing technology to Texas A&M, representing more than $9.2 million in capital equipment and enabling more than $36 million in sequencing services for researchers.

TxGen and Johnson’s leadership have received recognition from Texas A&M and the genomics industry. In 2019, the Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence for Team Collaboration recognized his work with the Texas A&M AgriLife Wheat team. TxGen was also recognized twice as a Center of Excellence by PerkinElmer and Revvity. TxGen has also been recognized by leading sequencing technology companies, including Illumina, as a leading agriculture-focused genomics laboratory.

Illumina has highlighted TxGen as an early adopter of new sequencing technologies and a model for research groups expanding their Next-Generation Sequencing capabilities, including the world’s first adoption of the technologies NovaSeq 6000 and DRAGEN for agricultural applications.

“Dr. Johnson built TxGen from the ground up into a facility that has served researchers at Texas A&M and around the world,” said G. Cliff Lamb, Ph.D., director of AgriLife Research. “His scientific leadership and his commitment to service have left a lasting mark on AgriLife Research. We are grateful for his years of service to genomics research.”

Supporting genomics researchers and the future

Johnson earned his doctorate from Texas A&M University and has authored more than 100 scientific publications and patents. Before joining Texas A&M AgriLife, he led teams in the biotechnology industry, where he built genomic analysis services and computational tools supporting pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic research.

“Genomics has changed dramatically over the course of my career, from restriction fragment length polymorphism and northern blots to the high-throughput sequencing technologies we use today,” Johnson said. “I have always enjoyed being on the service and technology side of research and finding ways to support researchers. Building TxGen gave me the opportunity to do that at a larger scale, and working with the people who made it successful has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career.”

After retirement, Johnson said he plans to remain involved with genomics, biotechnology and scientific organizations while taking time to pursue other interests and spend more time with family.