Senior Scientist
Promega Corporation
I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Plant Breeding in 1986, a Masters degree in Genetics in 1989 and Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics in 1992 from Michigan State University. I did his post-doctoral training at the University of Wisconsin in Molecular Biology in 1992-1994. I have done research and development at Promega since 1997 and have been an adjunct professor at University of Wisconsin, Department of Medicine, since 2013.
My research over the past 25 years has been focused on: (1) biomarker discovery and assay development for use in cancer research and human identification applications, (2) the role of DNA damage and repair in cancer development, and (3) radiation-induced carcinogenesis. My dual positions at Promega and University of Wisconsin allow me to work on grant funded projects that have generated high impact results. I have been PI or Co-I on nine NIH and NASA grant funded projects ($4.5 million; direct cost), many involving research at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory using the collider-accelerator at Brookhaven national Laboratory to simulate the space radiation. My research has led to: the identification of new short tandem repeat markers used internationally by forensics labs for DNA fingerprinting, the development a system for detection of microsatellite instability (MSI) that is widely used throughout the world for identification of Lynch syndrome, new biomarkers for measuring genetic damage from radiation exposure, and new type of biomarker that is highly sensitive to MSI that makes it feasible to screen pre-cancerous lesions for early identification of patients with Lynch syndrome prior to the development of deadly colon cancer. Current research focus is on developing new biomarkers for pan-cancer molecular diagnosis with advanced detection technologies, which will be able to identify and track patient response to immunotherapy in liquid biopsies.