W. Gary Tarpley, Ph.D. (Chair)

Dr. W. Gary Tarpley obtained his Ph.D. in Oncology Research from the McArdle Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1982 .  Dr. Tarpley’s research, conducted with Drs. James and Elizabeth Miller, focused on a molecular understanding of the initiation of liver cancer.  He performed postdoctoral studies with Dr. Howard Temin, a Nobel Laureate in Viral Oncology, from 1982-84 in molecular virology.  In 1984, Dr. Tarpley joined the Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, MI.  At Upjohn, Dr. Tarpley held a number of posts including Research Scientist (1984-88), Senior Research Scientist (1989-1990), and Director, Cancer and Infectious Diseases Research (1991-1996).  In 1996, Dr. Tarpley was promoted to Vice President, Discovery Research, Infectious Diseases Research, Pharmacia & Upjohn, the position that he held until August, 2003. Dr. Tarpley currently is Vice President, Research and Development at the Promega Corporation in Madison, WI. He is responsible for the daily operations of R&D, including directing the research activities related to the investigation and development of new technologies and early-staged products. He is also a member of the Promega Corporate Leadership Team.

Dr. Tarpley has received several honors including extensive research support from the National Institutes of Health (1987-2000), the Upjohn Achievement in Science and Medicine Award (1993); in 1995, Dr. Tarpley was appointed by Donna Shalala, Secretary, Health & Human Services of the Public Health Service, to the National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Council.  He has published over 70 papers in leading scientific journals.

Dr. Tarpley’s current research interests are focused on the identification and development of novel technologies in the proteomics, genomics and cell analysis areas. He maintains a strong interest in the identification of novel therapeutics to treat major infectious diseases, such as drug-sensitive and drug-resistant bacterial or viral infections, structure/function analyses of essential bacterial/viral genes,  molecular mechanisms of drug resistance, and the application of genomics/bioinformatics to drug discovery.

Donald H. Batts, M.D.

Dr. Batts was born in Detroit, Michigan, attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids followed by Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, Illinois and completed his medical training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he was Chief Medical Resident.  He practiced consultative Infectious Diseases and supervised a Michigan State University Internal Medicine Residency in Kalamazoo, Michigan for six years before joining the Upjohn Company as a Physician/Scientist in the Infectious Diseases Drug Discovery Unit. He had successive appointments the Clinical Pharmacology Unit, Clinical Development and Medical Marketing Divisions in his 15 year career in the Pharmaceutical Industry developing antibiotics and antiretrovirals, five of which are now marketed. At present, he is Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Infectious Diseases Section of Michigan State University College of Human Medicine-Kalamazoo Campus, and is Vice Chief of Staff of Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, MI.

David H. Swenson, Ph.D.

Dr. Swenson was born in Moorhead, Minnesota, attended the University of Minnesota twin cities campus (B.S., Biochemistry, 1970) followed by graduate school at the University of Wisconsin (Ph.D., Experimental Oncology, 1975).  He received postdoctoral training at the Institute for Cancer Research, Pollards Wood Station of the Institute of Cancer Research (Chester Beatty Institute).  He served as a research chemist at the National Center for Toxicological Research, a Senior Biologist at The Upjohn Company in Genetic Toxicology and in Cancer and Viral Diseases Research.  Dr. Swenson established Karkinos Biochem, Inc. in Phoenix Arizona and eventually moved to the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, where he taught Biochemistry, toxicology and chemical carcinogenesis courses.  Since 1996, he has been the H. H. Dow Professor of Chemistry at Saginaw Valley State University.