About

Dr. Robert M. Goodman is a plant biologist and virologist with a distinguished career in academia and industry. He served as Executive Dean of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Rutgers University from 2005 to 2020, and was named a University Professor by the Rutgers Board of Governors in 2020, holding the title of Executive Dean Emeritus. His research has focused on the diversity and function of microorganisms in natural environments, soil metagenomics, and plant virology. Notably, during his tenure at the University of Illinois, he discovered and characterized the Geminiviruses, the first-known circular, single-stranded DNA viruses in plants. He has also contributed to the development of genetic engineering techniques in crop species, including pesticide resistance and anti-sense RNA applications, during his time at Calgene, Inc. Goodman has held faculty positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Illinois, and has been involved in numerous leadership roles, including serving on the Board of Trustees of CIMMYT and chairing sections of the AAAS. His scholarship includes pioneering work on soil microbial diversity and the development of approaches now widely called metagenomics. He has also led international programs aimed at improving food security through crop research partnerships in less developed countries and has been actively involved in initiatives to develop youth workforce and entrepreneurship in Greece. Goodman is an elected Fellow of the AAAS and the American Academy of Microbiology, and continues to serve as a senior strategic advisor and board member for various organizations.

Research topics

• Biology
• Agronomy
• Biotechnology
• Agricultural science
• Genetics
• Engineering
• Agricultural engineering
• Ecology
• Agroforestry

Selected publications

• Biotechnology and its Impact on Future Developments in Soybean Production and use

  CRC Press eBooks · 2022 · 1 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Biotechnology
  • Biology
  • Agronomy

  Modern biotechnology is based on scientific advances that make it possible to isolate and clone specific pieces of DNA containing genes, and to sequence the nucleotides in a DNA molecule, so that the precise location and structure of genes can be studied at the molecular level. This chapter surveys the ways in which modern biotechnology has already had, and may in the future have, an impact on the understanding of the soybean. It reviews the prerequisites for genetic engineering of a crop plant with some examples of recent accomplishments with other species, and summarizes soybean breeding objectives that might be amenable in the future to genetic engineering. Among the major breeding objectives in the soybean that are amenable to biotechnological solutions are seed protein and oil quality, plant stress tolerance, pest and disease resistance, and herbicide tolerance. Seventy percent of the storage proteins in soybean seeds are accounted for by two components of the globulin fraction, glycinin and ß-conglycinin.

  PublisherDOI

• Biotechnology and Crop Breeding for Sustainable Agriculture

  CRC Press eBooks · 2020 · 9 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Agroforestry
  • Biotechnology
  • Agricultural science

  Crop plants have been manipulated genetically to suit mankind’s purposes since agriculture began. Domestication and breeding achievements over the first eight millennia of agriculture have been quite impressive. Plant breeders seeking sources of new traits have been limited to the genetic variability found in a particular crop’s germplasm, or in germplasm of closely related, cross-compatible species. The breeding time required for development of a new variety is long, requiring several to many iterations of the life cycle of the crop species being bred. “Sustainable agriculture” has emerged in the last 10 years as the most agreed-upon term to describe the varied field of agricultural practices that differ from conventional concepts of modern agricultural production. Progress in breeding for mechanically harvested tomatoes came through the introgression of desirable genes from tomato variants and wild species.

  PublisherDOI

• Antibiosis and Beyond: Genetic Diversity, Microbial Communities, and Biological Control

  2019-04-11 · 3 citations

  book-chapter

  Healthy plants grown in normal environments, such as the field or a greenhouse, are virtually never free of microbes. An extension of the concept of microbial biological control is the potential for managing communities of microorganisms to sustain plant health. Most biological control research has started with either a chance observation of, or a deliberate attempt to find, specific microorganisms that suppress a disease or exhibit antibiosis toward a pathogen. Antibiosis is a mechanism of biological control that can be readily manipulated and exploited in order to enhance disease suppression by biological control agents. The fundamental principle—taking advantage of genetic diversity of microorganisms to meet the challenges of diverse environments—may have broad applications in processes that are driven by microorganisms, such as biological control of plant diseases, biological control of pests other than pathogens, or plant growth promotion. The chapter attempts to review all of the literature on biological control of plant disease by bacteria.

  PublisherDOI

• Billing and payment of commercial and Medicaid health plan adult vaccination claims in Michigan since the Affordable Care Act

  Vaccine · 2019-10-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access1st author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Western organizational change capacity theory and its application to public health organizations in China: A multiple case analysis

  The International Journal of Health Planning and Management · 2018-09-28 · 19 citations

  articleSenior author

  As health reform becomes a crucial task for both Chinese and United States government, public health organizations are required to adopt changes based on reform policy. Organizational Change Capacity theory is a Western theory that indicates the capacities that organizations should possess when pursuing successful organizational change. This study seeks to understand the applicability of this theory to Chinese public health organizations by contrasting organizations that have achieved success or remained challenged in implementing organizational change to optimize health reform. The research questions are: Is the Organizational Change Capacity theory applicable in Chinese public health organizations? How should it be modified to best fit Chinese public health organizations? Seventy-two participants from 12 public health organizations in Beijing and Xi'an were recruited for interviews and follow-up questionnaires that asked for experiences during their organizational changes. During the analysis, a new Chinese Organizational Change Capacity theory with nine main themes emerged. This new framework provides a guideline for Chinese public health organizations to evaluate their change capacity, and offers a theoretical foundation for researchers to design interventions that increase these organizations' capacity in achieving successful change.

  PublisherDOI

• H. Boyd Woodruff (1917–2017)

  Science · 2017-04-27 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author

  Pioneer in antibiotics and industrial microbiology

  PublisherDOI

• Response to the Letter to the Editor:

  Spine · 2016-07-04

  letter1st authorCorresponding

  Blue Care Network of Michigan, Southfield [email protected] The manuscript submitted does not contain information about medical device(s)/drug(s). Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation grant funds were received in support of this work. Relevant financial activities outside the submitted work: consultancy, grants, royalties, employment.

  PublisherDOI

• The Impact of Commercial Health Plan Prior Authorization Programs on the Utilization of Services for Low Back Pain

  Spine · 2015-12-05 · 27 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  STUDY DESIGN: An observational study. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a health plan's prior authorization (PA) programs for low back pain (LBP) in a non-Medicare population by assessing changes in pre-surgical nonoperative care; lumbar fusion trends; and overall back surgery rates compared with another health plan with a similar program and national benchmarks. The PA programs require mandatory physiatrist consultation before surgical evaluation, with subsequent additional LBP surgery PA. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: LBP is prevalent and concern exists that spinal fusion is overutilized for LBP. METHODS: Annual rates of lumbar fusion trended over 6 years, and analysis of changes in standardized costs for LBP-related services among a 501-member subset who underwent lumbar fusion before and after program implementations, during the period January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2013, among commercial members aged 18 and 65 years enrolled in a health maintenance organization with commercial membership averaging >500,000 annually. RESULTS: After initiation of the physiatrist PA in December 2010, lumbar fusions decreased from 76.27/100,000 in 2010 to 62.63/100,000 in 2011 with subsequent increases to 64.24/100,000 and 73.84/100,000 in years 2012 and 2013. For members who had lumbar fusion, per-member, pre-surgical costs increased by $2,233 with the physiatrist PA and an additional $1,370 with implementation of the LBP surgery PA (March 2013). Spinal injections and inpatient admissions were the greatest contributors to the overall increase in costs. The physiatrist and LBP surgery PA programs were also associated with lengthening of LBP episodes ending in surgery by 309 and 198 days. CONCLUSION: Mandatory referral to a physiatrist before surgical evaluation did not result in persistent reduction in lumbar fusions. Instead, these programs were associated with the unintended consequence of increased costs from more nonoperative care for only a transitory change in the lumbar fusion rate, likely from delays due to the introduction of both PA programs. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

  PublisherDOI

• Updating the FORECAST formative evaluation approach and some implications for ameliorating theory failure, implementation failure, and evaluation failure

  Evaluation and Program Planning · 2013-03-28 · 21 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A meta-analysis of social capital and health: A case for needed research

  Journal of Health Psychology · 2013-04-02 · 204 citations

  review

  Social capital refers to various levels of social relationships formed through social networks. Measurement differences have lead to imprecise measurement. A meta-analysis of eligible studies assessing the bivariate association between social capital and self-reported health and all-cause mortality was performed. Thirty-nine studies met inclusion criteria, showing social capital increased odds of good health by 27 percent (95% confidence intervals [CI] =21%, 34%). Social capital variables, reciprocity increased odds of good health by 39 percent (95% CI = 21%, 60%) and trust by 32 percent (95% CI =19%, 46%). Future research suggests operationalizing measures by assessing differences by race/ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• April Reese

  Independent Sector

  36 shared

• Barbara A. Larsen

  36 shared

• F C Wheeler

  36 shared

• Adeline M. Yerkes

  National Association of Chronic Disease Directors

  36 shared

• Peggy Adams

  Bowling Green State University

  36 shared

• Nidu Menon

  Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

  36 shared

• C Brownson

  Walker (United States)

  36 shared

• Apophia Namageyo-Funa

  36 shared

Awards & honors

• Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) (2011)
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sc…
• Vilas Trust Associate, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2000…