Potential Mentors for REU Summer Projects

Mentors are listed by departmental affiliation. Clicking on the mentor's name will take you to a longer description of their research interests.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

James R. Bamburg, Role of the cytoskeleton in neuronal growth and regeneration, pathfinding, and in neurodegenerative diseases. Signal transduction mechanisms controlling actin filament dynamics and cell behavior.

Chaoping Chen, Role of the actin cytoskeleton in retrovirus trafficking; mechanisms of the host cell-virus interactions in virus assembly and budding.

Norman P. Curthoys, Proteomic Analysis; mechanism of mRNA stabilization; structure of mitochondrial glutaminase.

Jennifer DeLuca, Analysis of the molecular architecture of kinetochore-microtubule interface in vertebrate cells and how proteins and protein complexes at this interface drive and regulate chromosome movements.

Santiago Di Pietro, Molecular mechanisms of intracellular protein transport. Molecular bases of human diseases affecting biogenesis of intracellular organelles and the endocytic process.

Jeffrey C. Hansen, Elucidating the structure/function relationships of the chromatin fiber. Use of analytical ultracentrifugation and quantitative agarose gel electrophoresis to yield unique information about secondary and tertiary structures of chromatin fibers, and the architectural chromatin binding proteins that modulate these structures in solution.

P. Shing Ho, Structures and structural gymnastics of nucleic acids. Both DNA and RNA are induced to various biologically interesting and functional conformations resulting from perturbations in the environment, drug interactions, and protein binding. We have been studying these effects by crystallography, molecular modeling, and biochemistry.

Douglas N. Ishii, Molecular mechanism by which the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) hormones contribute to the development of the nervous system, and to nerve regeneration. Also, we are studying the cause of diabetic neuropathy.

Paul J. Laybourn, We are using the promoters of human retrovirus HTLV-1 LTR and the yeast PHO5 gene as models in these studies. We are employing both in vivo (genetic, molecular genetic), and in vitro (biochemical) approaches. We are particularly interested in the role of eukaryotic gene expression dysregulation in cancer.

Karolin Luger, A combination of X-ray crystallography and other biochemical and biophysical approaches are used to analyze the structure and function of large macromolecular complexes involved in DNA compaction, and in transcription regulation in a chromatin context.

Jennifer K. Nyborg, In recent years, human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) has become increasingly recognized as an important cause for public health concern throughout the world and is the causative agent of a variety of clinical diseases, including an aggressive and fatal cancer called adult T-cell leukemia, and a neurological disorder that is clinically very similar to multiple sclerosis. A large body of evidence suggests that the clinical manifestations of HTLV-1 infection occur as a consequence of a virally-encoded protein called Tax. My laboratory focuses on defining the intracellular consequences of Tax expression in the infected human cell, with emphasis on the Tax-dependent events that lead to malignant transformation.

Olve Peersen, Picornaviruses are a family of small positive sense single stranded RNA viruses that cause a wide range of diseases in humans and animals including rhinoviruses that cause the common cold and poliovirus, the prototypical member of this family. We are interested in understanding the molecular details of picornaviral replication and are using structural biology and biophysical techniques to determine the structure of viral proteins and study their interactions.

Eric D. Ross, Numerous diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are associated with protein misfolding into ordered aggregates, called amyloid fibrils. We are using yeast prions as a model system for examining the causes and consequences of amyloid fibril formation.

Laurie Stargell, Transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II involves a highly regulated series of events dependent upon many protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions. By combining yeast genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysical techniques, we are using a multi-faceted approach to understand the functional requirements of the general transcription factors in transcription initiation in vivo.

Michael M. Tamkun, Regulation of muscle electrical excitability at both the cellular and molecular levels. Research in the lab revolves around five general themes:
(1) cloning new ion channels from cardiac and vascular muscle
(2) identification of channel domains involved in protein-protein interactions,
(3) examination of the signaling mechanisms/cellular processes that control ion channel function and tissue/cell-specific expression,
(4) characterization of mechanisms responsible for channel cell surface localization, and
(5) elucidation of the physiological role that a given channel plays within a particular tissue.

Department of Animal Sciences

Lawrence Goodridge, Development of novel diagnostics and methods to detect and control the presence of food-borne pathogens, with a specific focus on development of detection methods and prophylaxis for food-borne bacterial pathogens. Characterization of the genetic determinants of antibiotic and sanitizer resistance in bacteria isolated from food production animals.

Department of Biology

Patricia A. Bedinger, The work in my laboratory centers on pollen development and function in higher plants, using Arabidopsis, tomato and maize as model organisms. Our major focus is on the molecular analysis of pollen and pistil proteins that mediate sexual recognition in higher plants via specific protein-protein interactions.

Daniel R. Bush, My research focuses on sugar and amino acid allocation from sites of primary assimilation to import-dependent sinks in plants. This is a fundamental process that allows plants to function as multicellular organisms. We use molecular, genetic and biochemical tools to define the mechanisms and regulation of this essential process.

Greg L. Florant, My research interests are centered on the mechanisms that animals use to adapt to different situations. Recent investigations have focused on animals that hibernate and the mechanisms they use to regulate energy stores.

Deborah Garrity, I am interested in how the embryonic heart differentiates chambers and acquires a regular rhythm of contraction. Since zebrafish embryos are transparent, one can observe cardiac arrhythmia and patterning defects in mutant embryos. My lab uses developmental genetics, molecular biology and fluorescent and histochemical imaging techniques to investigate phenotypes of embryonic heart form and function.

Donald L. Mykles, My research concerns the regulation of molting and limb regeneration in crabs and lobsters. Specific areas are signaling mechanisms in the molting gland, phenotypic changes in skeletal muscle during lobster development, and proteolytic mechanisms mediating molt-induced claw muscle atrophy. Biochemical, immunocytochemical, and molecular biological methods are used.

Elizabeth A. H. Pilon-Smits, In the Pilon-Smits lab we study processes by which plants accumulate and detoxify environmental pollutants, from the molecular level to the field. Our approaches include genomics, genetics, biotechnology, biochemistry, whole-plant physiology, and ecological studies. These studies are aimed to gain knowledge about basic biological processes, and to create plants that may be used for environmental cleanup.

Anireddy S. N. Reddy, One of the fundamental questions in plant biology is how hormonal and environmental signals regulate cellular processes and various aspects of plant growth and development. We are interested in understanding the mechanisms by which plant cells sense and respond to various signals. Our current research activities are focused on three areas: i) calcium-mediated signal transduction mechanisms with emphasis on calcium sensors and their target proteins, ii) mechanisms that regulate basic and alternative splicing of pre-messenger RNAs, and iii) designing and testing of novel synthetic signal transduction circuits in plants.

Department of Biomedical Sciences

Scott Earley, Cardiovascular Physiology. Regulation of vasomotor activity by ion channels expressed by arterial smooth muscle cells. How factors produced by vascular endothelium influence blood vessel function.

Kathryn M. Partin, Structural and Functional Analysis of Glutamate Receptors. Glutamate receptor desensitization and its Modulation by Cognitive-Enhancing Drugs.

Noreen E. Reist, Chemical synapses are required for nervous system function, from sensation to learning and memory. Molecular dissection of synaptic transmitter release using molecular biology, Drosophila genetics, electrophysiology, and electron microscopy.

Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences

Susan Bailey, Emerging relationships between telomere function and DNA damage response continues to provide new insight into how cells satisfy their imperative to maintain genomic stability. DNA repair is necessary for putting broken ends back together after damage, such as that caused by exposure to ionizing radiation. In contrast, telomeres, the natural ends of chromosomes, must avoid rejoining to other DNA ends, yet, many of the same players are found at both types of DNA ends.

Howard Liber, Cancer Genetics and Radiation Biology. Exploration of mechanisms of spontaneous and radiation-induced mutagenesis in human cells.

F. Andrew Ray, My research has recently morphed from viral to radiation carcinogenesis while maintaining a focus on genomic instability. Currently I'm working on a new way to study chromosomal inversion, a type of chromosome damage previously difficult to study. Also, as part of a large scale NASA-funded study to determine the mechanism of murine leukemogenesis, I am studying the onset of a particular point mutation.

Ronald Tjalkens, Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Neurosciences. Astrocyte biology and calcium signaling, mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders, and molecular regulation of neuro-inflammatory genes.

Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology

Carol D. Blair, Molecular virology. Interactions of arboviruses and mosquitoes. Viruses studied include La Crosse Bunyavirus, and West Nile and Dengue Flaviviruses.

Jeffrey Wilusz, Mechanisms of mRNA Turnover in Mammalian Cells and their impact on virus infections.

Please note that, due to space limitations in some labs, it may not be possible to place everyone in their first choice.