Dr. Kenneth W. Bayles received his training in bacterial genetics at Kansas State University where he earned his Ph.D. degree in 1989 for his studies of toxin production by the Gram-positive pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus. He then performed post-doctoral research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, examining the regulatory response to DNA damage in Bacillus subtilis and S. aureus. After nine years as a faculty member at the University of Idaho, he moved to the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) where he became the founding Director of the Center for Staphylococcal Research (CSR) and combined the talents of several investigators to focus on the role of staphylococcal biofilm in the development of disease. Dr. Bayles served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Basic Science Research until 2022 when he assumed the role as Vice Chancellor for Research at UNMC.

Throughout his career, Dr. Bayles’ research interests have been funded by multiple NIH grants and have remained focused on elucidating the regulation of bacterial cell death and defining their roles in biofilm development. This research led to greater than 120 publications, many of which having expanded the boundaries of bacterial physiology including the concept of programmed cell death in bacteria and the hypothesis that the molecular control of this process is conserved in plants and animals. In addition, his studies led to the discovery that bacterial biofilm is a complex developmental process that includes many functions previously thought to be reserved for more complex organisms. In more recent years, his research interests expanded to Department of Defense-related activities including work on countermeasures against weapons of mass destruction such as therapeutics and vaccines to protect against select agents and toxins, as well as compounds to protect against radiation exposure.