Richard A. Proctor, MD (University of Michigan, 1970), is a Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Medicine and Medical Microbiology, University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, retired from Merck as the Global Director for Infectious Diseases for Antibiotics and Antifungals, and continues an active consulting career for industry/universities/research funding agencies; collaborating at multiple University Professors and companies; writing grants; planning experiments and evaluating data for research on staphylococcal infections and novel antibiotic combinations; and reviewing manuscripts for journals.
The recipient of research grants concerning the pathogenesis of bacterial infections, emerging pathogens, and antibiotic resistance. He has made contributions in the fields of endotoxin activation of macrophages, septic shock, bacterial adhesion, S aureus pathogenesis, and antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive cocci with over 200 publications. Most recently, he has been involved in the assessment of staphylococcal vaccine immunology. Specific studies include receptors that regulate macrophage activation during endotoxemia, small-colony variants in staphylococcal infections, bacterial energetics, the protective immune response to S. aureus infections, and antimicrobial resistance. Dr. Proctor has lectured extensively both nationally and internationally and holds 14 patents.
Dr. Proctor is active in both academic and clinical societies. He has served on multiple Editorial Boards, is the past president of the Alexander von Humboldt Society of America, founding member of the International Endotoxin Society [now called the International Endotoxin and Innate Immunity Society] and Staphylococcal Diseases Gordon Research Conference. Among the honors Dr. Proctor has received are the Alexander von Humboldt Distinguished Research Professor Award (Professorship in Münster, Germany), Harold Pl Rusch Award in Translational Cancer Research, and the US Army Commanding Officer’s Award for Research while attached to Walter Reed.
