Ronald (Ron) T. Acton, Ph.D., HCLD(ABB), D(ABMLI), MB(ASCP)CM received a PH.D. in 1970 in  Microbiology/Immunology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He was a postdoctoral fellow in Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, UAB 1969-1970 under J. Claude Bennett, M.D. He was a postdoctoral fellow in Immunogenetics at the California Institute of Technology1970-1972 under Ray D. Owen, Ph.D. He was a special fellow in the Immunochemistry Unit, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford 1972-1973. His mentor at Oxford was Professor R. R. Porter who received that year the Nobel Prize for his work in defining the structure of immunoglobulins.

Dr. Acton returned to the faculty at UAB in 1973. He was, until retirement September 30, 2007, Professor of Microbiology, Medicine, Genetics and Epidemiology and International Health and Director of the Immunogenetics Program. He founded and directed for 21 years the Immunogenetics/DNA Diagnostic Laboratory within the UAB Health Services Foundation. This laboratory was licensed by Alabama Department of Health and by the federal government under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act and accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks and by the College of American Pathologists for conducting medical genetics, paternity and forensic DNA testing.

Upon retirement Dr. Acton was appointed October 1, 2007 Adjunct Professor of Microbiology at UAB. He is a board-certified Medical Laboratory Immunologist, a board-certified High-Complexity Clinical Laboratory Director, and a certified Technologist in Molecular Biology. In 1991-1992 he undertook additional training in Medical Genetics.

During the past 30 years , Dr. Acton has conducted peer reviewed funded studies to identity genes in various populations that predispose to arthritis, cancer, coronary heart disease, brucellosis, lupus erythematosus, adrenal hyperplasia, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, narcolepsy, caries, coagulation disorders, hemochromatosis and iron storage diseases. He has published over 285 peer reviewed papers on the results of these studies. These have included linkage and association studies, cloning and sequencing genes, and the distribution of genes in various racial/ethnic groups.

He was the Principal Investigator on a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute funded study to screen 20,000 subjects for hemochromatosis and iron overload and to identify multiply affected families to further define genes that modify the risk of hemochromatosis and to map the gene(s) for iron metabolism.

He currently serves on the Admissions Committee for the School of Medicine and has served on the Promotions Committee for the School of Medicine, the Curriculum Committee for the School of Medicine, as course master for Medical Microbiology and on the Graduate study in Forensic Science Committee.

He is an expert in the use of genetic markers and DNA testing in forensic, paternity and medical matters. He has reviewed over 600 cases and testified in over 250 civil, criminal and malpractice cases as an expert in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin as well as in federal courts.