Stem cell expert joins staff of MDI bio lab

SALISBURY COVE – Dr. David Barnes, director for the national stem cell resource at American Type Culture Collection in Manassas, Va., since 1998, has joined the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory as its new director of marine cell lines and stem cell program.

The announcement was made during the laboratory’s recent annual meeting.

At the same time, it was announced that Dr. Denry Sato will be appointed deputy director of the laboratory’s marine cell lines and stem cell program in September.

Barnes received a bachelor of science degree in molecular biology from Vanderbilt University in 1971 and a doctorate in 1977 from Vanderbilt’s Department of Microbiology. He was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow between 1978 and 1980, has taught at Vanderbilt, the University of Pittsburgh, Oregon State and George Mason University.

Barnes has been the recipient of numerous other appointments and awards.

Sato previously has been deputy director of the National Stem Cell Resource for ATCC. He holds a bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, and his doctorate in genetics from Oxford University.

Sato has held several college teaching positions, including the University of Vermont, Clarkson University and George Mason University.

Three new trustees also were elected to the laboratory’s board at the meeting, which featured a talk by the deputy director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences as well as reports from the director and the chair of the board of trustees.

Elected to the board of trustees were Max Brenninkmeyer, Carolyn Marks Blackwood and Virginia Pratt Agar.

Brenninkmeyer, who lives in Surry, has a bachelor of arts in economics from the College of the Holy Cross and a master’s degree in accounting from Bentley College. He served as an investment office for more than 25 years at Shawmut Investment Advisors as the lead fixed income portfolio manager.

Carolyn Marks Blackwood of West Tremont is the cofounder of Magnolia Mae Films, a New York film and television company. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Rutgers University and has done graduate study at Rutgers and New York University.

She serves on the advisory committee of the Museum of Natural History in New York and on the board of the Calhoun School in Manhattan. In addition, Blackwood participates in the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Riverside Park Fund and the New York Restoration Project.

Agar, a retired early education educator, lives in West Tremont and is active in the community as a volunteer. She received a bachelor of science degree in early childhood education from Wheelock College, Mass. As a trustee of the Abbe Museum and a member of its events committee and advancement committee, she was involved in the opening of the new museum. She also serves as an alumni volunteer for Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass.

The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, founded in 1898, is one of the leading marine research institutions in the world. The nonprofit, independent research laboratory has a three-fold mission to promote research and education in the biology of marine organisms; to foster understanding and preservation of the environment; and to advance human health.