A professor of biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been chosen as the first recipient of the Salm-Bray Distinguished Chair at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Michael Sussman will hold the appointment through June 2027.
The distinction aims to recognize a faculty member who demonstrates exceptional cross-disciplinary scholarship and collaboration in the area of human or animal health, and who advances the impact of agriculture through the identification and development of novel bio-functional compounds.
Sussman's research program is known for being leading edge and wide ranging, and for uncovering impactful discoveries in plant and animal sciences. He has published on the signaling networks involved in how plants respond to environmental stressors. With a collaborator, he's sought to identify blood-borne biomarkers for colon cancer, a project that received an Innovation Award from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation for its potential to provide earlier and easier disease detection. More recently, Michael has been involved in collaborative efforts to study aspects of the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2.
A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sussman was the longtime director of the university's Biotechnology Center. He has served as a governor's appointee to the Wisconsin Biofuels Consortium and the Wisconsin Technology Council. He also co-founded NimbleGen Systems Inc. (now Roche-NimbleGen), a successful spinoff company, whose products allow researchers to quickly and affordably analyze DNA.
The Salm-Bray Distinguished Chair was established by Christopher and Susan Salm, both alumni of UW-Madison CALS.
Categories: Wisconsin, Education