Donald Ganem
Donald "Don" Emil Ganem (born September 23, 1950) is an American physician, virologist, professor emeritus of microbiology and medicine, and former global head of infectious disease research at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR). Biography. Ganem graduated in 1968 from Phillips Academy Andover and in 1972 from Harvard College. After two years of medical school, he took an 18-month leave of absence to work on SV40 DNA replication with George Fareed. In 1977 Ganem graduated with an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. At Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now Brigham and Women's Hospital) he was a resident  and chief resident in internal medicine. At the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) he did subspecialty training in infectious diseases, working in Harold Varmus's laboratory. At UCSF he became a faculty member in 1982 and eventually Professor of Microbiology & Immunology and Medicine. In 1991 he also became an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. At UCSF Ganem was part of a team, including David Wang and Joseph L. DeRisi, that developed a highly parallel viral screening system using DNA microarrays to detect and genotype viral pathogens. Ganem and co-workers also elucidated the functional significance of SV40 -encoded microRNAs in viral infection. With Joseph L. DeRisi and six other researchers, Ganem found four novel viruses that infect honey bees. Ganem practices internal medicine in San Francisco. On May 20, 1985, in Alameda County he married Peggy S. Weintrub, a pediatrician. They have two daughters, Alison Marjorie (born 1989) and Natalie Katherine (born 1990). Both daughters are lawyers.