Dr. Neil C. Talbot

With a Bachelor’s degree in biology, a Master of Science degree (viral immunology major) and a Doctorate in cellular and molecular oncology, Dr. Talbot has over 24 years of scientific research experience with the University of Maryland, Squibb Institute for Medical Research (E.R. Squibb and Sons, Inc.), National Institutes of Health and is currently employed by the United States Department of Agriculture, where he received a Merit Award for superior performance on in vitro culture of embryonic cells in 1993 and a Scientist of the Year Award in 1996.

He has extensive knowledge and experience in the following areas:

• Research on nuclear cloning of cattle and embryonic stem cells of the pig, sheep and cow;
• Oncogene and transformation suppression research with the isolation and characterization of oncogene resistant NIH/3T3 cell lines and v-Ki-ras suppressor genes;
• Tyrosine Kinase oncogene suppression research with the analysis of the C127 mouse cell line's resistance to transformation by various oncogenes by transfection or infection;
• Oncogene suppression research with the development of human HOS cell lines resistant to transformation by the v-Ki-ras oncogene.
• Viral DNA analysis and production of monoclonal antibodies to equine herpesvirus type 1.
• Immunoassays (ELISA, SN, CF, and cytotoxicity) for the evaluation of the antibody response in experimental infections of equine herpesvirus type 1.

Dr. Talbot is widely published, with numerous research papers in such publications as: In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology; Cells Tissues Organs; Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology; and Experimental Cell Research. Dr. Talbot is the co-inventor of the Hepatocyte Cell Line Derived from the Epiblast of Pig Blastocysts, U.S. Patent 5,532,156, issued July 2, 1996, and the Artificial Liver Device, U.S. Patent 5,866,420, issued February 2, 1999.

Dr. Thomas J. Caperna

With a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology and Zoology, a Master of Science degree in Biology (immunochemistry), and a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry, Dr. Caperna has over 23 years of animal and cell research experience. He has held research positions at Syracuse University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and has been an associate and a research scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture since 1986.

Dr. Caperna’s expertise and research are in the following areas:

• Isolation and culture of rat and pig hepatic parenchymal and sinusoidal cells
• Hepatocellular trace metal metabolism and metalloprotein biochemistry
• Pig, chicken and bovine endocrinology
• Nutrient-hormone interactions
• Growth, development and energy metabolism in the pig with emphasis on the somatotropin axis
• Stable isotope methodology in metabolic studies
• Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry