Dr. Pierce serves as CSO for Oncose and is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and The Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at the University of Georgia. He joined the university as Associate Professor in 1991. Prior to joining UGA, Dr. Pierce was Associate Professor for six years in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy and Staff Investigator at the Pananicolau Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

While at UGA, Dr. Pierce has received grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Health totaling over $16 million. He is the recipient of the prestigious 5-year Faculty Research Award from the American Cancer Society. He has been Visiting Scholar in the Cell Signaling Program of the Tokyo Metropolitan Research Institute, and has or continues to serve as grant reviewer for various organizations such as the California Cancer Research Program, the Pathobiochemistry Study Section of the NIH, Ad Hoc Reviewer for the American Cancer Society, Program Project Reviewer for the NCI and NIH, and the U.S. Army Breast Cancer Program. He personally lists eight patents where he served as principal inventor or investigator. Dr. Pierce has served as Major Invited Speaker, Section Organizer, Plenary Lecturer or Workshop Organizer at over 40 different national and international conferences, symposia and workshops since 1984. He has also written over 50 papers or publications in the biochemistry and molecular biology field.

Dr. Pierce received his B.S. in Chemistry/Biology from Oklahoma Baptist University in 1973 (Cum Laude with Honors), his Ph.D. with Dr. S. Roth in the Department of Biology from Johns Hopkins University in 1980. From 1979-1982 Dr. Pierce also served as NIH Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Clinton Ballou in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.