Graduate Faculty Directory
Biological Sciences Graduate Faculty
Select a faculty member from the list below to view their full profile.
Jennifer Anthony
Assistant Professor of Biology
Tilman Baumstark
Assistant Professor of Biology
RNA viruses and subviral RNA pathogens Plus-strand RNA viruses are responsible for many diseases in humans, animals, and plants. Hepatitis C, influenza, and SARS, for example, are caused by viruses from this important group. Our efforts are focused on an early step in the viral life cycle within the host cell, the recruitment of the viral RNA genome into a replication complex with viral and cellular proteins. Satellites and viroids are subviral RNAs that do...
Joseph M. Betz
Adjunct Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Biotechnology
John A. Beutler
Adjunct Associate Professor of Cell Biology
Ara DerMarderosian
Professor of Pharmacognosy
Research Professor of Pharmacognosy
My research interests include pharmacognosy, medicinal chemistry, and nutraceuticals. We focus on hallucinogenic botanicals: medicinal and poisonous plants and their phytochemistry and pharmacology; marine pharmaceuticals; drugs of abuse; and medical foods or “nutraceuticals.” Current projects in my group involve research on pomegranate, blueberries, erythroxylon species, barley, and antimicrobials in African herbs. Previous studies have been carried out on hallucinogenic morning glories, biosynthesis of indoles in the Convolvulaceae, and medically active compounds in several marine organisms....
James Johnson
Associate Professor of Biology
My primary research objective is to involve both myself and my associates in studies of the molecular mechanisms regulating gene expression and gene product function. My research projects include examination of the following aspects of molecular biology and microbial genetics: 1. Mutational analyses of genes, or regulatory regions 2. Cloning and sequencing of genes and regulatory regions 3. Studies of the physical structures of these isolated DNA sequences 4. Site directed and transposon mutagenesis of...
Margaret Kasschau
Professor of Biology
Osmotic change is an environmental stressor which can have significant effects on all cells from lower animals and to cells from mammals especially when they are found in areas of fluctuating osmotic conditions. Early work in our laboratory focused on the effects of high osmotic stress on the cytoskeleton of earthworm coelmocytes (leukocytes). Recently we have directed our research to studying mammalian cells normally subjected to significant changes in osmotic pressure. Circulating blood cells and...
William Law
Chair, Biology Department
Professor of Biology
Sepsis and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome are major clinical problems, typically resulting severe infections. The purine nucleoside, adenosine, is recognized as a critical molecule used by cells to modulate a variety of autocrine and paracrine signalling pathways involved in inflammatory processes. Our laboratory research efforts are focused on understanding the role of purine metabolism in modulating inflammatory processes. Currently, we are investigating a dual role for adenosine deaminase (ADA) in the regulation of adenosine...
Vandana Miller
Instructor in Biology
Adjunct Instructor of Public Health
Macrophages are an essential part of the innate immune system. They respond to infections, tissue damage and various other environmental assaults predominantly by: • phagocytosis • producing toxic molecules (e.g. nitric oxide and superoxide radicals) • releasing cytokines • presenting antigens to the cells of the adaptive immune system The collective term for these responses is inflammation. Macrophges and nutritional starvation In collaboration with Dr. S. Murphy and Dr. M. Kasschau, we research the effects...
Robert A. Moreau
Adjunct Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Biotechnology
Suzanne Murphy
Professor of Biology
Osmotic change is an environmental stressor which can have significant effects on all cells from lower animals and to cells from mammals especially when they are found in areas of fluctuating osmotic conditions. Early work in our laboratory focused on the effects of high osmotic stress on the cytoskeleton of earthworm coelmocytes (leukocytes). Recently we have directed our research to studying mammalian cells normally subjected to significant changes in osmotic pressure. Circulating blood cells and...
Mary Beth Murray
Assistant Professor of Biology
John Porter
Director, Biological Sciences Programs
Professor of Biology
Research Professor of Pharmacognosy
We work at the interface among cell biology, biotechnology and natural products biology/chemistry. We are actively pursuing alternate sources for known medicinal compounds, discovery of novel medicinal compounds, and application of natural products to specific targets for antimicrobial therapy. Alternate sources of natural products We work with various fungi and transformed plant roots that can produce impressive arrays and quantities of medicinal natural products. We are investigating the production of podophyllotoxin, precursor to several anticancer...
Robert Smith
Assistant Professor of Biology
Plant tissue culture as a means of secondary metabolite production. Current projects include promotion and evaluation of taxane production in Taxus media cv Hicksii. I also work on developing models for organogenesis and embryogenesis in plant tissue culture. A new focus is development of effective screening procedures for antihelminthic testing of crude plant extracts using Caenorhabditis elegans as the test organism.
Berta Strulovici
Adjunct Professor of Biophysics
