DETROIT - Hilary Ratner, Ph.D., vice president for research at Wayne State University, has announced that Philip Cunningham, Ph.D., of Troy, Mich., will be WSU's assistant vice president for research compliance effective September 3, 2011.

As assistant vice president for research compliance, Cunningham will serve as the university's research integrity officer and will oversee all areas of research compliance including research that utilizes humans, animals, rDNA, as well as radiation safety and chemical safety. In addition, he will oversee the university's conflict of interest policy, export controls and investigations on research misconduct.

Cunningham joined the faculty of WSU's Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1991. At WSU, he currently is associate professor of biological sciences. He has received numerous honors and awards including WSU's Career Development Chair award, WSU's President's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the National Academies Education Fellow in the Life Sciences, and was appointed an American Society for Microbiology Branch Lecturer from 2008-2010, among many others.

Cunningham and his research team have developed several novel genetic technologies that allow rapid identification of new antibiotic targets and new antibiotic lead compounds. His technologies also allow the immediate identification of mutations in ribosomal drug targets that might lead to antibiotic resistance even before the new antibiotic has been developed. He and his team are also working on isolating new antibiotics that specifically affect only disease-causing bacteria without harming beneficial bacteria, thereby reducing the side-effects of antibiotic therapy. The technology has received two patents to date and Cunningham and his graduate students and postdocs have several others pending.

"The assistant vice president for research compliance position is a critical role in any research institution," said Ratner. "I am pleased to have such an outstanding individual as Dr. Cunningham in this position, and I look forward to working with him in his new role."

For more information about Cunningham's research, visit http://bio.wayne.edu/profhtml/Cunningham/cunningham.htm

###

Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu.