Another recipient of the 2023 Rosalind Kornfeld Award is Dr. Donald L. Jarvis. Don earned B.S. (1978) and M.S. (1980) degrees in Microbiology at Idaho State University and a Ph.D. (1986) in Virology at Baylor College of Medicine. Don’s first exposure to glycobiology came unexpectedly while studying SV40 large T-antigen under the tutelage of Janet Butel at Baylor when they found T-antigen is glycosylated. This solidified Don’s interest in using viruses to study glycoprotein biosynthesis and processing, which he pursued in the baculovirus-insect cell system after joining Max Summers’ group as a postdoc at Texas A&M University in 1987. Don continued this work as an independent faculty member at Texas A&M from 1989-1997, which is when he became fully immersed in glycobiology and began a career focused on elucidating insect cell protein glycosylation pathways. Initially, Don’s group performed biochemical studies on insect cell-derived N-glycoproteins to retrospectively characterize the N-glycosylation pathway and the impact of baculovirus infection on this pathway. His group then transitioned to a prospective analysis of insect cell glycosylation pathways involving isolating genes encoding endogenous glycoprotein processing machinery, including glycosylhydrolases, glycosyltransferases, and nucleotide sugar transporters, determining their sequences, and characterizing the functions of the gene products. Don had no formal training in glycobiology and was given generous and open advice and collaboration from key members of the Society for Glycobiology, including Joel and Nancy Shaper, Harry Schachter, Kelley Moremen, Annette Herscovics, John Lowe, and Pamela Stanley, among others, which solidified his admiration for the field and many of its leaders and love for the SFG, which he joined in 1995.
Studies from Don’s and other’s lab groups ultimately showed insect protein glycosylation pathways are simpler than those of higher eukaryotes, consisting of N-glycan transfer and trimming with limited, if any, elongation. This result was predictable from earlier studies and, for this reason, Don’s group had begun creating the first vectors and methods for insect cell transformation. As the field began to show key genetic differences limiting production of complex, human-type N-glycans by insect cells, Don’s group began using these genetic tools to glycoengineer the baculovirus-insect cell system.
After completing some initial efforts to knock-in key mammalian glycogenes in 1998, Don moved his group to the University of Wyoming, where they extended their glycoengineering efforts to include additional knock-ins, as well as development of the first CRISPR-Cas tools for the baculovirus-insect cell system. The latter enabled them to knockout a key glycogene, fused lobes (fdl), which antagonizes N-glycan elongation in insect cells. By 2011, these efforts yielded insect cell derivatives and baculovirus vectors that could produce recombinant glycoproteins with N-glycans terminating in mannose, N-acetylglucosamine, galactose, or sialic acids. In 2011, Don started a small biotechnology company, GlycoBac, LLC to fine-tune and commercialize these new systems, as well as to extend other basic R&D efforts designed to improve the baculovirus insect cell system in other ways. One advance accomplished by GlycoBac has been the isolation of virus-free insect cell lines for the baculovirus-insect cell system. This is important as some insect cell lines used in this biomanufacturing platform were recently found to be contaminated with adventitious viruses.
His outstanding reputation as a research scientist is evidenced by numerous invited talks and lectures over the years. Don has co-authored 25 book chapters and reviews and nearly 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, further demonstrating his expertise and authority in his field. He has received many awards from his home institution at the University of Wyoming, including two Distinguished faculty awards, and was elected as an AAAS fellow in 2023. Don’s research has been exceptionally well funded by a range of agencies including the NIH (R01, STTR/SBIR), DoD, NSF, NIST, and industry.
In conjunction with the diversification of Don’s career in virology to include glycobiology, he has dedicated a portion of his time to service to the field and the SFG. In addition to serving on the editorial board of Glycobiology since 2006, he has served SFG as a Director (2009-2012), a member of the FASEB (2013-2020) and SFG (2015-2017) Publications Committees, and as the SFG Secretary (2016-2023). Most notable has been his service as SfG Secretary for three terms from 2016 to 2023. During this time as Secretary, Don set a very high standard for careful and thorough documentation of Society business and was instrumental in revising and updating countless Society policies. His role as a member of the Executive Committee was felt and greatly appreciated over the last several years as the Society (and its respective Presidents) endured one challenge after the next around the annual meetings as well as several other issues including Society management. Don always brought a rational and thoughtful perspective to these discussions, sharing his vast institutional memory when needed.
Don, an avid fisherman and outdoorsman whose laughter and smile can illuminate the room, will retire from his academic position at Wyoming at the end of this academic year and we fully expect he will be cutting holes in the ice and catching the biggest fish possible this winter and beyond.
