12 May University of Wisconsin-Madison professor emeritus honored for groundbreaking gene variation research
Dr. James Dahlberg, professor emeritus of biomolecular chemistry at UW
Today, James Dahlberg, professor emeritus of biomolecular chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was highlighted in the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s 2025 “Faces of American Innovation” report for his pioneering gene variation research, which has enabled the creation of diagnostic tests for numerous serious illnesses.
The Bayh-Dole Coalition, of which the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is a member, is a group of innovation-oriented organizations and individuals committed to celebrating and protecting the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, as well as informing policymakers and the public of its many benefits.
The coalition’s annual Faces of American Innovation report honors a select group of researchers, entrepreneurs and administrators whose groundbreaking work, made possible by the Bayh-Dole Act, has changed the lives of millions in the United States and abroad.
In recognition of their extraordinary contributions to America’s innovation ecosystem, Dr. Dahlberg and four other honorees will receive the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s 2025 American Innovator Award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on June 4.
“WARF is delighted to celebrate Dr. Dahlberg for this well-deserved honor,” says WARF CEO Erik Iverson. “His remarkable scientific expertise and dedication to bringing his technology to market have played a crucial role in Wisconsin’s emergence as a rapidly growing biohealth tech hub.”
At UW-Madison, Dr. Dahlberg co-invented Cleavase – an enzyme that breaks the attachment points between single- and double-stranded DNA and can be used to detect gene variations. Because of the Bayh-Dole Act, which allows universities to patent discoveries supported by federal funding, WARF was able to secure patents on Dahlberg’s research, which had been enabled by grants from the National Institutes of Health.