Campus is home to national bioscience leaders

Here are just a few examples of the many leading figures in bioscience research who work at UW–Madison:

Professor of biochemistry Richard Amasino’s studies of plant genetics has led to a better understanding of how plants regulate flowering time and senescence, the process of aging in plants. His work has far-reaching implications in agriculture, and could lead to crops with greater tolerance to frost and less spoilage.

Banfield

Jillian Banfield, professor of geology and geophysics, is pioneering a new field of science known as geomicrobiology, the study of microorganisms at the boundary of earth and its biosphere. Some of the microbes she studies have potential value in environmental cleanup. She is a 1999 winner of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, known as “genius grants.”

Fred Blattner, professor of genetics, is director of the new Genome Center of Wisconsin, a concentration of faculty who are developing tools to sequence the complete blueprints of life forms and determine the functions of individual genes. Blattner achieved a milestone in the field in 1997 by sequencing the complete genome of E. coli.

Alta Charo, professor of law and history of medicine, is a leading scholar of bioethics and public policy on biotechnology. She has brought a unique inter- disciplinary background to controversial topics such as cloning and embryonic stem cell research.

James Dahlberg, professor of biomolecular chemistry, is a pioneer in a number of molecular studies involving the health of cells. His work is influential in understanding how cells develop and protect themselves from disease.

Norman Fost, professor of pediatrics, is the founder of the program in medical ethics, and has garnered national recognition for his leadership in the field. His opinions are sought nationally on subjects such as health care access, testing for genetic diseases, cloning and patient’s rights.

Kiessling

Laura Kiessling, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has pioneered studies into the causes of inflammation, the body’s response to injury or infection that causes pain and swelling. Her work may lead to new treatments for inflammation in its most serious forms, such as arthritis. She is another MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” recipient.

Judith Kimble, professor of biochemistry, focuses on the molecular basis of embryonic development and sex determination. She recently authored an influential study that elucidated how organ shape is directed and controlled.

Ann Palmenberg, professor of animal health and biomedical sciences, is doing influential studies of the genetic structure, function and evolution of viruses that are human health threats.

Tomas Prolla, professor of genetics, studies how cancers can develop from various genetic defects in DNA repair pathways. His work may shed light on the molecular pathways that cause cancers to grow.

Ron Raines, professor of biochemistry, studies the molecular makeup of proteins in the body. In particular, his research on the stability of collagen – a protein that gives the body its structure and shape – could lead to novel therapies for collagen-related disorders such as arthritis. He has also studied how a common protein first discovered in frogs can act as a potent killer of cancer cells.

Schwartz

David Schwartz, a professor of chemistry and genetics, is a national leader in the development of better, faster ways to decipher genetic information in plants and animals. His optical mapping technology creates whole genome maps in a fraction of the time of comparable technologies. His technology is in use in mapping the human genome, the rice genome, and was recently used in completing the genome for malaria.

Lloyd Smith, professor of chemistry, is a world leader in the design and development of technologies used in the race to sequence the genetic material of plants and animals. He has recently made big advances in demonstrating the potential of DNA-based computing. He is also a co-founder of Third Wave Technologies, one of Wisconsin’s most successful biotech companies.

Michael Sussman, director of the Biotechnology Center, leads a center at the heart of the biosciences on campus, with active programs in public education and service to Wisconsin’s thriving biotechnology industry. The center is meant to be a core service facility for biology faculty campus-wide, and a guidepost for the economic and ethical challenges in the field.

Tom Zinnen, director of biotechnology education for the Biotech Center, has trained hundreds of Wisconsin teachers and educated thousands of school children about the social and technical issues of biotechnology. He teaches a range of workshops from “Defining Biotechnology” to “Exploring Enzymes and Bacteria,” and runs a wildly popular experiment showing students how to extract DNA from a plant.