Dr. Gangemi, a virologist by training, is Professor Emeritus of Clemson University. He holds a PhD in virology and immunology from the UNC School of Medicine. He has also served as Senior Science Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Collaborative Research at the Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences (USUHS) and served in the US Army with an assignment to the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Ft. Detrick MD, where he served as "Team Lead" of the Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) Laboratory.