He served as Chief of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1986 to 2011.
In December 2011, he created the Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St.
Petersburg State University, Russia as Chief Scientific Officer.O'Brien is known for his research contributions in comparative genomics, virology, genetic epidemiology, mammalian systematics and species conservation.