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An interview with Dr R. Michael Roberts

Dr R. Michael Roberts, D. Phil, is a Curators’ Professor of Animal Sciences, Biochemistry, and Veterinary Pathobiology at the University of Missouri. Dr Roberts is a biochemist and reproductive biologist specializing in embryo–uterine interactions during pregnancy in domestic animals and the use of pluripotent stem cells to study trophoblast differentiation. Dr Roberts is best known for his work with Fuller Bazer on uterine secretions, and particularly the iron-binding acid phosphatase, uteroferrin, in the pig, and on how the early embryo signals its presence to the mother in ruminant species through the production of small proteins called interferons. His was among the first laboratories to describe the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from an ungulate species, the pig, and has recently been generating iPS cell lines from human umbilical cords to study preeclampsia. Dr Roberts has mentored over 70 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and authored over 325 peer-reviewed publications and 70 reviews and chapters in books, including a number in Biology of Reproduction [1–8]. Dr Roberts was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1996, and has received several international awards, including the Milstein Prize for Research on Interferons and the Wolf Prize for Agriculture (2003). He also received the Carl G. Hartman Award (2006) form the Society for the Study of Reproduction. Dr Roberts was also Chief Scientist with the USDA Competitive Grants Program from 1998 to 2000 and also served on the National Research Council’s Committee that published recommendations to the Federal Drug Agency on concerns regarding the use of genetically modified animals for food. We asked Dr Roberts about his outstanding career and the importance of mentors.