Dr. Campbell, a Professor of Medical Science, is a molecular biologist. His research focuses on a family of enzymes called RNases H, which digest RNA.

Dr. Campbell earned his undergraduate degree from York College (part of the CUNY system) and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. After postdoctoral work at UC San Francisco and UCLA, he was hired by Brown in 1994. He has been there since (almost continuously) and was named the Dean of the Graduate School in April 2016.

Dr. Campbell studies the RNase H family of enzymes, which non-specifically cut RNA in DNA/RNA hybrid structures. This is essential for DNA replication because a small piece of RNA is used to get the reaction started, and that piece has to be removed and replaced with DNA in order to finish replication. (Since this job is essential, at least one member of the RNase H family is found in almost any organism.) In addition to this natural job, we frequently use RNase H in the lab as a way to get rid of RNA in a sample. RNase H is also an important therapeutic drug for retroviruses (such as HIV), in which these enzymes are important for the process of turning the virus RNA genome into DNA that can be used to make new proteins to sustain the virus.

In recent years, Dr. Campbell has been more involved in administrative work than science, and has published many articles about diversity in STEM, some about the experiences of students and others about the experiences of faculty.