Dr. David Hayden O’Connor is a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Wisconsin. He also serves as the associate director of the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, where he leads research groups in the study of interplay between genetics and immunity to infectious diseases such as HIV.

David received degrees from both the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (B.S.) and University at Wisconsin, Madison (Ph.D.). He is the senior author of 49 published research manuscripts.

“The apostrophe in my last name confuses databases and makes it hard to log into hotel wifi networks, but it marks me as distinctively Irish,” says David, who is fourth-generation Irish American and linked to Co. Cork through his father’s family. “When I visited Ireland for the first time several years ago, I received an unusually warm reception when people learned my last name, and it is that spirit of gracious hospitality that I try to extend to all who visit me in Madison.” David lives with his wife, Shelby, and son, Eli.