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Biology Department

Faculty



  • Basil, Jennifer
    Areas of Expertise: Animal learning and memory, evolution of brain and behavioral complexity, sensory ecology, and neural basis of behavior -- using primarily invertebrate models.
  • Eshel, Dan
    Areas of Expertise: The microtubule cytoskeleton and its motor proteins. Eshel's laboratory is studying signal transduction pathways that control and regulate the dynamics and function of microtubules in cells. The model organism used in the studies is the budding yeast. Work in the lab is performed by doctoral students and undergraduate research students, and it involves methods of molecular genetics and cell biology. Past and present funding sources include the American Cancer Society and the NIH.
  • Forest, Charlene
    Areas of Expertise: Forest's lab studies the cell and molecular biology of fertilization in algae. To understand how gametes (sperm and egg) recognize and fuse with each other, the lab is cloning genes that prevent gamete fusion. Analysis of the proteins these genes code for will help to understand the types of proteins necessary for this process. The lab hopes its studies will lead to a better understanding of the process of fertilization in other organisms, including humans.
  • Forlano, Paul M.
    Areas of Expertise: Using fish as model systems, Forlano's lab employs a combination of evolutionary/systems neuroscience with a molecular and cellular approach in order to identify the mechanisms underlying steroid-induced neural plasticity and sex differences in brain and behavior. These studies focus on vocal, auditory and neuroendocrine circuits that are conserved across vertebrates.
  • Gavin, Ray
    Areas of Expertise: Internalization of particulates through phagocytosis is of fundamental importance to diverse cell types including professional phagocytes of the immune system and microorganisms that use the process for capturing food. Internalized particulates are contained within intracellular structures known as vacuoles. Gavin investigates motility of phagocytic vacuoles. Specifically, the research focuses on Myo1, a novel myosin discovered in his laboratory.
  • He, Qi
    Areas of Expertise: The long-term goals of He's lab are elucidating how neurons in the nervous system are formed and organized into functional circuits during animal development. They utilize a combination of methods, including molecular and cell biology, genetics, advanced microscopic imaging and transgenic techniques. Together, these approaches offer a promising path to advancing our understanding about the structure and function of the central nervous system.
  • Ikui, Amy E.
    Areas of Expertise: The cell cycle is an ordered set of processes by which one cell grows and divides into two daughter cells. Cell cycle progression is driven by Cyclin-Cdk complexes. Ikui's research studies the molecular targets of Cyclin-Cdk, and the biological importance of the new cyclin targets in S. cerevisiae.
  • Lipke, Peter N.
    Areas of Expertise: Lipke's lab recently discovered that amyloid formation at the cell surface activates yeast cell adhesion proteins, which has led to the lab's research in the role of amyloids in host-pathogen interactions. This idea is part of long-term studies of glycoprotein structure and function, bioinformatics, structure and biogenesis of fungal cell walls, and anti-fungal drug discovery. The lab's studies are informed by bioinformatic studies in protein structure and evolution.
  • Muth, Theodore
    Areas of Expertise: Microbiology--host pathogen interactions. His research interest is in A. tumefaciens, which causes crown gall disease, which affects several varieties of fruit trees and grapes. A. tumefaciens transfers virulence genes and proteins into susceptible host cells. The transferred virulence genes and proteins cause infected cells to form undifferentiated tumors. Recently this unique ability of A. tumefaciens to transform plants has been used by researchers to generate important transgenic crops.
  • Nishiura, James
    Areas of Expertise: Nishiura's lab studies the developmental biology and genetics of mosquitoes. Cutting-edge techniques of gene cloning, imaging and RNAi techniques are used to study the mechanisms that control mosquito metamorphosis. This information will be used to develop new and novel methods of controlling mosquito populations and mosquito-borne diseases. They will also be used to investigate the evolution of cis acting elements that control gene expression during development.
  • Polle, Juergen
    Areas of Expertise: Juergen Polle is a leading expert in microalgae biotechnology. For the past 18 years he worked with various microalgae, including unicellular green algae, diatoms and cyanobacteria. Polle is internationally recognized for his work on algae of the genus Dunaliella. His research focuses on photosynthesis, secondary carotenoid biosynthesis and biofuels production from microalgae. His research was funded in the past by, for example, the U.S. DOE, NIH and Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
  • Quadri, Luis E. N.
    Areas of Expertise: Luis Quadri's lab applies multidisciplinary approaches to: (1) investigate the biosynthesis of mycobacterial iron-chelating compounds utilized for iron uptake (siderophores); (2) elucidate the biosynthesis of lipidic mycobacterial virulence factors called DIMs; and (3) develop compounds with utility as leads for drug development or chemical biology tools.
  • Saxena, Anjana D.
    Areas of Expertise: Nucleolin, a major phosphoprotein involved in ribosome biosynthesis, is often elevated in cancers and has been a useful marker for cancer diagnosis. Saxena's lab studies the regulatory role of nucleolin on the tumor suppressor proteins (such as p14ARF and p53) as well as oncogenes (such as p53-antagonist Hdm2 and ARF-antagonist nucleophosmin).
  • Singh, Shaneen M.
    Areas of Expertise: The long-term research goal of the lab is to apply computer modeling to gain insight into cellular signal transduction pathways, specifically to provide deeper insight into both the normal and aberrant subcellular targeting of domains contained in proteins which are part of macromolecular complexes and function in various biological processes.
  • Studamire, Barbara
    Areas of Expertise: Barbara Studamire analyzes interactions between retroviral and host proteins using the tools of genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry. Her lab focuses primarily on the retroviral integrase protein and its interactions with host factors and chromatin.