Brun named director of Texas A&M AgriLife Genomics and Bioinformatics Service
Marcel Brun’s appointment provides strategic continuity as long-time director Charlie Johnson retires
Marcel Brun, Ph.D., has been named director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Genomics and Bioinformatics Service, TxGen, effective Sept. 1. He succeeds Charlie Johnson, Ph.D., who will retire after leading TxGen for 16 years.
Brun has served TxGen, part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, since 2015, when he began as lead bioinformatics scientist. He has served as assistant director since 2024. He brings more than 20 years of experience in academia and genomics, with a deep background in computational biology, mathematics and high-throughput genomics.
“Dr. Brun has spent more than a decade building TxGen alongside Dr. Johnson, so this transition brings strong continuity to the unit,” said G. Cliff Lamb, Ph.D., director of AgriLife Research. “His scientific depth, his experience mentoring the next generation and his hands-on knowledge of this facility make him the right person to carry forward the unit mission.”
Advancing genomics research
Brun earned his doctorate in computer science from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, following a degree in mathematics at the National University of Mar del Plata, UNMdP, in Argentina. He later served as a tenured associate professor and academic administrator at UNMdP, as well as head of the Algorithm Development Unit within the Computational Biology Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, TGen, in Phoenix. Throughout his career, he has mentored numerous graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.
Before joining TGen, Brun held research appointments at the University of Louisville and Texas A&M University. Since joining TxGen, he has designed and built most of the facility’s computational infrastructure, bioinformatics pipelines, operational workflows and client support systems.
“I have spent the past decade working with the TxGen team and with researchers from across The Texas A&M University System and around the world,” Brun said. “I know the importance of our work and the value researchers place on the services we provide. I am looking forward to leading the team and building on what we have developed.”
A tradition of genomics impact
Founded in 2010 by Johnson as part of an AgriLife Research initiative, TxGen has supported researchers from more than 45 countries, completed nearly 6,000 research projects and processed more than 1 million samples.
Under Brun, TxGen will continue to provide high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics services that support discoveries in agriculture, natural resources, animal health and the life sciences while making advanced technologies accessible to researchers around the world.
