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UW-Madison Professor Emeritus Receives the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s American Innovator Award
UW-Madison Professor Emeritus Receives the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s American Innovator Award
A longtime professor, researcher, and science enthusiast, Jim Dahlberg was simply following his curiosity in the lab when he stumbled upon a novel enzyme that cut specific shapes of DNA.
His chance discovery turned out to be groundbreaking: the enzyme could be used in diagnostic tests to identify and isolate disease-causing cells. Today, the technology is used to detect HPV, cystic fibrosis, certain cancers, and more — giving millions of patients a better shot at early treatment and recovery. In fact, Jim’s discovery was used by Cologuard to develop their at-home colon cancer test which has screened more than 19 million people.
Jim’s work also ignited a biotech movement in Madison, changing the way university research is brought to market. When WARF took a chance on licensing his patent to the start-up Third Wave, which Jim cofounded, it paved the way for more than 100 UW spinouts and helped establish Madison as a national biotech hub.
Jim is one of five innovators profiled in the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s 2025 Faces of American Innovation report, who will receive the third annual American Innovator Award in Washington, DC, on June 4.
