Biology

Faculty and Student Research 

Graduate Student Research

Graduate Student Research

Undergraduate Student Research

Undergraduate Student Research

Faculty Research in Biology

Eric Birgbauer, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

• Research Interests: Development of the visual system; molecular mechanisms of retinal axon guidance abstract (pdf - 32.3KB)
  
• Dr. Birgbauer's website

Salvatore Blair, Ph.D. University of Alberta

• Research Interests:  Fish physiology; Conservation physiology; Investigating the cellular mechanisms governing fish osmoregulation, ion-regulation, and thermoregulation while living in dynamic and anthropogenically influenced aquatic environments.

Shardai Brown, Ph.D. Ph.D. Medical University of South Carolina

• Research Interests: Focus on the crossroads relationship between the immune system and nervous system. She is interested in how macrophages and microglial cells provide an enriched microenvironment for the survival and invasion of glioblastoma cells. She also has interests in the role of macrophages in hearing loss models.

Dwight Dimaculangan, Ph.D. University of South Carolina

• Research Interests: Impact of academic strengthening programs on student retention and success (204E project). Previous research - Tissue culture models of heart disease; Citoplasmic Male Sterility in wild-type tomatoes.

Victoria Frost, Ph.D. St. Bartholomew's Hospital, University of London, England

• Research Interests: Bacterial diversity and evolution in aquatic ecosystems, Bacteriophage genomics and evolution - SEA-PHAGES/SEA-GENES.

Laura Glasscock, Ph.D. University of. North Carolina, Chapel Hill

• Research Interests: Focuses on the role of proteases and their receptors in prostate cancer progression. She is specifically interested in how these proteins regulate the ability of prostate tumor cells to invade and metastasize and how they regulate the process of angiogenesis.

Kunsiri Grubbs, Ph.D. University of Tennessee

• Research Interests: Conservation of an endangered sunflower species (Schweinitz's sunflower) that endemic to the Piedmont region. Her research work also includes the study of higher plant systematics with a focus on a genus Eupatorium, a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae).

Courtney Guenther, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Madison

• Research interests: effective pedagogical strategies in STEM education; experiential learning; examining the neuroscience and physiology surrounding mindfulness practices in college students.

Kathryn Kohl, Ph.D. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

• Research Interests:Various aspects of meiotic and mitotic recombination using both transmission genetics and molecular genetics in the model system drosophila melanogaster (the fruit fly).  This basic research has implications for human health since DNA repair is crucial to maintaining genome stability and aberrant meiotic crossing over can result in gametes (sperm or eggs) with an improper chromosome complement (aneuploidy).

William Rogers, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley

• Research Interests: Behavioral ecology, especially of vertebrates; ornithology; ichthyology; behavior, ecology and conservation of Amazonian fresh-water dolphins. abstract (pdf - 40.5KB)
  

Kiyoshi Sasaki, Ph.D. Oklahoma State University

• Research Interests: Conservation Biology, Dendroecology, Behavioral Ecology, Evolutionary Ecology, and Herpetology.

Jenny Schafer, Ph.D. University of Florida 

• Research Interests: Plant Ecology and Fire Ecology.
  

Julian Smith, III, Ph.D. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 

• Research Interests: Systematics and evolution of free-living flatworms; biology of marine meiofauna. abstract (pdf - 44.5KB)
• Dr. Smith's website.

Matthew Stern, Ph.D. University of Iowa School of Medicine 

• Research Interests: Cell biology, stem cells, biomaterials, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, three-dimensional cell culture systems, and Bioprinting. abstract (pdf - 64.4KB)
  

Daniel Stovall, Ph.D. Wake Forest University 

• Research Interests: Contribution of abnormal epigenetic mechanisms to disease progression in breast and prostate cancers and glioblastoma. Specific interests include chromatin remodeling enzymes, transcription factors, and noncoding RNAs. 

Cynthia Tant, Ph.D. University of Georgia 

• Research Interests: Stream Ecology, Ecosystem Ecology, Aquatic Entomology, and Human impacts on aquatic ecosystems.

Kristi M. Westover, Ph.D. Washington State University 

• Research Interests: Evolution of biomedically important viruses such as Hepatitis B, HIV, and Influenza A. abstract (pdf - 27.3KB)

Elizabeth King Endowment

The R. Morrison & Miriam D. King Endowment was established by Dr. Elizabeth N. King in honor of her parents in November of 2001. This endowment offers faculty members further opportunities for research and development.

King Endowment (pdf - 132KB).