Kansas City, Mo. (Jan. 17, 2007) – David Welte, a guiding shareholder in the law firm of Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus, has accepted a full-time role as in-house General Counsel at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.

     The Stowers Institute is a longtime client of Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus, and Mr. Welte has acted as the Institute’s General Counsel since 2000.

     “We are delighted to welcome David to a full-time role at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research,” said Richard W. Brown, Co-Chair of the Institute’s Board of Directors. “He was a key figure in the establishment of the Stowers Institute, and has continued to serve as a trusted advisor. While practicing with Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus, David provided invaluable counsel and guidance to the Institute, and we look forward to the many contributions he will make as member of the Institute.”

     Mr. Welte was Polsinelli’s first managing partner, a position he held for 14 years until 1998. During his tenure with the firm, it grew from a small group of law school classmates practicing together in the mid-1970s to more than 280 attorneys with offices in eight cities today.

     “I have spent almost my entire professional career at Polsinelli. It has been a great place to practice with the first-rate lawyers and good friends,” said Mr. Welte. “It has been exciting and rewarding to be part of the growth and success of the Polsinelli firm for over three decades,” he continued. “And while I will miss my partners, being a formal part of the leadership team at the Stowers Institute is the professional opportunity of a lifetime. I look forward to continuing to work with the Life Sciences team at Polsinelli in my new position.”

     Mr. Welte has also held a number of leadership positions in the Greater Kansas City civic community. He is currently a member of both the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City board of directors. Welte previously served as co-chairman of the Kansas City Area Development Council, President of Brush Creek Community Partners, a member of the Board of Trustees and Audit Committee of Midwest Research Institute and a member of the Missouri Bar Board of Governors.

     Mr. Welte received his Juris Doctorate in 1968 from Loyola University-Chicago. He was admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1968, the bars of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit in 1982, Tenth Circuit in 1985 and the U.S. Supreme Court in 1982.

About the Stowers Institute
     Housed in a 600,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility on a 10-acre campus in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research conducts basic research on fundamental processes of cellular life. Through its commitment to collaborative research and the use of cutting-edge technology, the Institute seeks more effective means of preventing and curing disease. The Institute was founded by Jim and Virginia Stowers, two cancer survivors who have created combined endowments of $2 billion in support of basic research of the highest quality.