In 1992, the University of Iowa (UI) Research Foundation received its first U.S. patent on the CMV promoter, a prevalent tool in the biotechnology industry. The CMV promoter is used to manufacture Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved therapeutic proteins for treating patients with cancer and other diseases, and to develop gene therapy and DNA-based vaccine products. UI Microbiology Professor Mark Stinski discovered the CMV promoter.

Dr. Stinski joined the UI Department of Microbiology in 1973 as an Assistant Professor of Virology, and as of December 2011, was Professor Emeritus. He provided 39 years of service to the Department and its members as a researcher and educator.