Meet Mike Roof '87, '89, '91

Mike Roof has been working on novel animal health solutions since his days as a doctoral student at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine ('87 B.S. microbiology, '89 M.S. veterinary microbiology, '91 Ph.D. veterinary microbiology and immunobiology), and he has never strayed far from his Iowa State home.

 

Roof's first job was for Sioux Center based NOBL Laboratories, a start-up company that licensed Iowa State technology in swine health, a product Roof helped develop as a student. 

 

At Iowa State, Roof worked in close collaboration with the local animal health infrastructure, so it was not surprising in 1997 when he elected to move NOBL Labs research and development function from Sioux Center to the ISU Research Park (ISU RP) in Ames. At the time, Roof was the lone ISU RP employee.  

 

ISU RP offered Roof and NOBL Labs legitimacy as a business. They would also come to rely on their ISU RP location for networking, proximity and collaboration with the local animal health infrastructure (ISU Vet Med and the USDA), the ability to recruit and attract top talent, and easy access to Iowa State University.

 

Each of these resources proved bountiful, as NOBL Labs continued to develop innovative solutions in swine health, hire and collaborate with world-class researchers at Iowa State, and grow with ISU RP's flexible space options. In 1996, NOBL was acquired by pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim (BI). In 2009, BI acquired the Fort Dodge Animal Health assets from Pfizer. This further improved BI's portfolio of animal health products, moving them into the companion animal markets and expanding their presence in cattle. It also added substantial manufacturing assets in Fort Dodge.

 

The Ames based location continued to grow its research base. In a recent assessment of BI's global long-term strategy, the ISU RP location was determined to be the company's Center of Competence for Biological Research in the USA. Roof's role has also expanded to the Executive Director of Biological Research and Development with emphasis on leveraging technology between the Ames site and other BI institutions in Germany and China.

 

BI's continued investment in the ISU RP location includes the construction of a new 52,000 square foot state of the art facility at ISU RP that will open in early January. The company also plans to expand the current Ames employee base of 50 to more than 100 scientists and staff.