In January 2024, Michael J. Imperiale, PhD, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, started his tenure as Professor Emeritus after his retirement from the University of Michigan (U-M) Department of Microbiology and Immunology (M&I) in December 2023. Dr. Imperiale’s distinguished career spans over 40 years during which time he excelled in all domains of academia. Dr. Imperiale’s career has been fueled by scientific curiosity and passion as well as generosity and appreciation for his community. 

In this interview, Dr. Imperiale shared some comments about his achievements and made a few recommendations to younger scientists. While Dr. Imperiale’s career has too many highlights to mention only a few, he provided three pieces of advice: “Follow the science, be open minded, and keep pursuing your research with passion. Be kind and constructive in your comments. And the most important thing we should say more often is ‘thank you’.” He explained that he gained this wisdom from listening attentively, which is his fourth recommendation. 

“Fully engage in what you’re doing, be kind, and say ‘thank you’ more often.” —Michael Imperiale, PhD, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor

As a scientist, Dr. Imperiale is highly respected for his expertise in polyomaviruses, small DNA viruses that are particularly prevalent in immuno-suppressed conditions such as organ transplants and HIV/AIDS. He obtained his PhD in Immunology studying T cells at Columbia University and because of his  great interest in gene expression, he did his postdoctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University, New York, NY, with Dr. Joseph Nevins working on adenovirus, a DNA tumor virus. He greatly enjoyed that period of his career where he fully focused his work on the regulation of transcription in tumor viruses and sought to identify the factors that interact with promoters to drive gene expression. 

Dr. Imperiale came to the U-M in 1984 as an Assistant Professor and one of the only three recipients of an Arthur F. Thurnau professorship offered to boost the field of molecular biology research at the university. In 1986, Dr. Imperiale became a member of the U-M Cancer Center, now Rogel Cancer Center, and was very instrumental in creating the U-M Cancer Biology PhD Program. He directed that program from 2010-2015. In 1990, he was promoted to Associate Professor, and became full Professor in 1996. 

“Science is hard and you know that you love science when you get terrible results and you want to work harder to get great results. And when you get great results, you want to work harder because you know it’s working and you want to take advantage of the success.”

His scientific contributions include over 100 primary literature articles and almost as many editorials, book chapters, commentaries, and other media contributions. He was on the editorial boards of Virology, J. Virology, Gene Therapy, PLoS Pathogens, and mBio, and is the founding Editor-in-Chief of mSphere. He has given hundreds of invited presentations and seminars, and maintained substantial funding of his lab for his entire career. For his scientific achievements, he received many awards, including the U-M Faculty Recognition Award (2000), the U-M Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award (2009) and an Endowment for the Basic Sciences (EBS) Recognition Award (2015). He was named Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (2010) and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011). In 2022, he was the Plenary Speaker at the DNA Tumour Virus Meeting at the University of Cambridge, UK. He has also helped organize dozens of national and international scientific meetings and symposia.

Dr. Imperiale’s teaching career is just as impressive. Over the years, he has trained and mentored 15 graduate students including three students whose dissertations were recognized by a MacNeal Dissertation Award for excellence in M&I, and 17 post-doctoral fellows. He participated in well over 30 dissertation committees and taught at all levels of the M&I curriculum. Dr. Imperiale expressed his enthusiasm for sharing his excitement for science through his teaching and being in direct contact with trainees. “There is immediate gratification in teaching because you know right away that you’re making a difference. This does not happen often with research that progresses at a slow incremental pace,” he said. “Mentoring in the lab and getting students to think about solving a scientific question are a lot of fun. You have to adapt your style to meet the trainees’ needs, and their curiosity and enthusiasm bring a lot of joy to the research work.” 

His outstanding teaching has been recognized by the U-M Medical School Student Teaching Excellence Award (2000), an Endowment for the Basic Sciences Teaching Award (2016), and a U-M Rackham Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award (2016). He gave the Keynote Address at the 2019 Convocation & Commencement Ceremony at Van Andel Institute Graduate School. “One of the happiest days of my life was to receive the Medical School Teaching Excellence Award!” he said.

One of his students, Dr. Johanna Abend, 2008 McNeal Dissertation Award recipient, describes her experience with Dr. Imperiale: “I still clearly remember agonizing over the decision of which lab to join as a new grad student. Ultimately, I joined Mike Imperiale's lab not because I was instantly enamored with the project I would be working on (that would come later...), but because the culture that Mike had established in the lab was both nurturing and rigorous -- I could see that I would be guided, educated, and supported, but also questioned, challenged, and critiqued. Under his mentorship, I learned how to think scientifically and design experiments that ask the right questions; then, and perhaps more importantly, I learned how to receive criticism and defend a position I believed in. There is no doubt that I would not be where I am today if I had chosen another lab (I still work on that same crazy polyomavirus from my graduate work!!). I am grateful for having Mike as my graduate mentor, and my continued colleague and friend.”

“… the culture that Mike had established in the lab was both nurturing and rigorous – I could see that I would be guided, educated, and supported, but also questioned, challenged, and critiqued.”—Johanna Abend, PhD, 2008 McNeal Dissertation Award recipient

Dr. Imperiale’s service to U-M has been phenomenal, ranging from faculty search committees in M&I and faculty promotion and recognition committees in the Office of the Provost, to curriculum policy advisory committees, and safety (BSL-3 committee) and policy committees. From 2000-2008, he was Chair of the U-M Biosafety Committee. 

From 2017–2022, Dr. Imperiale played an important role as the U-M Associate Vice-President for Research focusing on Research Policy and Compliance. He also served on the U-M Ethics, Integrity, and Compliance Committee, and the U-M National Industrial Security Program. 

As testified by Dr. Rebecca Cunningham, U-M Vice President for Research and Innovation,Dr. Imperiale’s service to the university during the COVID-19 pandemic was invaluable. "When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States in March 2020, it transformed nearly every facet of our research enterprise. The University of Michigan was forced to respond quickly in order to maintain critical research operations in a safe and equitable manner. Dr. Mike Imperiale played an essential role in this important process, and it is because of his strong leadership and expertise that our research enterprise was able to withstand and overcome the global pandemic," she wrote.

“….it is because of his [Dr. Imperiale] strong leadership and expertise that our research enterprise was able to withstand and overcome the global pandemic.”—Dr. Rebecca Cunningham, Vice President for Research and Innovation, University of Michigan

In M&I, Dr. Imperiale was Acting Chair in 1994 under Dr. Mike Savageau, and in 2003–2004, he once again stepped up to serve as Interim Chair prior to Dr. Harry Mobley’s appointment as departmental Chair. In various capacities, he also vastly contributed to improving the institutional climate, increasing mutual respect between physicians and scientists as well as building bridges and collaborations. He served as the Associate Chair for M&I under both Drs. Mobley and Bethany Moore.

His commitment to M&I research and community extended well beyond U-M. At the national level, Dr. Imperiale was on the Steering Committee of the National Gene Vector Laboratories, NIH. He has extensive study section service and was an inaugural member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, a presidentially commissioned advisory board, Department of Health and Human Services (Chair, Working Group on Outreach and Education, 2008–2014). From 2021–2022, he was a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - Global Science Forum Expert Group on Research Norms, Standards, and Integrity and was also on the NASEM Committee on Protecting Critical Technologies for National Security in an Era of Openness and Competition. “Biosafety and science policy are a fascinating world where you meet really interesting people from the government and from different countries. It has been eye-opening to see the breadth of knowledge of these very smart people.” In 2017-2018 he chaired a NASEM study entitled “Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology,” and presented it to the Biological Weapons Convention at the UN in Geneva.

“I am most grateful for Mike’s role as Associate Chair for the Department during my first 4 years of service and I will continue to lean on him for advice, counsel and institutional wisdom in his Emeritus role,” says Dr. Moore, M&I Department Chair.

As a Professor Emeritus, Dr. Imperiale intends to keep pursuing his biosecurity  and policy activities. With this contribution, he feels that he is continuing to fulfil a responsibility to educate and pay back the public that has funded his research. He will also maintain his role as Editor-in-Chief of mSphere and plans to  continue attending lab meetings for the joy of being with trainees.

Thank you Dr. Imperiale for your 40 years of science, service, mentorship and teaching. Congratulations!