Parsons Thomas J.

Thomas Parsons’ multidisciplinary career has primarily been based on the study of genetic variation as applied to a wide range of basic topics in evolutionary biology, and in practical applications of social importance. His undergraduate degree was in Physics from the University of Chicago. In 1989, he received a PhD. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington, Seattle, where he discovered and characterized families of genes in plants that are transcriptionally activated in response to insect attack. Also, in his doctoral work, he was the first to demonstrate successful genetic engineering of a hardwood tree. For the last two years, Thomas Parsons has been helping develop large-scale identification of missing Vietnamese soldiers from the American war, where some 300,000 have been recovered but not identified, and another 180,000 have not been recovered. The Vietnam context presents serious challenges with both highly degraded DNA and the requirement for genetic comparison to distant relatives of the missing. The ICMP has developed novel next generation DNA sequencing methods that have been proven effective on Vietnam samples and has partnered with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in a capacity building project to implement those methods, ultimately for widespread use in Vietnam. Parsons also has ongoing projects relating to biodiversity, conservation genomics, environmental DNA, and wildlife forensics. He is an affiliate of Field Projects International, that has developed field deployable DNA sequencing labs that allow conservation research questions and biodiversity database efforts to be addressed at the point of biodiversity hotspots in direct support of the relevant practitioners. He is also on the advisory board of the Vietnam Center for Technology and Nature Conservation which is engaged in numerous projects where genetic data can be vital for success. At VinUniversity, Parsons aims to develop such genetic resources to empower conservation efforts, enhance international collaboration, and catalog the unique richness and utility of Vietnam’s natural heritage.