External Advisory Committee Members
Dr. Robert AnholtDirector of Keck Behavioral Biology Center
Professor of Genetics and Zoology
North Carolina State University
Teaching Interests: Physiology, sensory neurobiology, and behavioral neurobiology; Research Interests: Molecular, cellular and genetic aspects of olfaction and odor-guided behavior; International Activity: England (Cambridge) Collaboration with Dr. Michael Ashburner on olfaction in Drosophila melanogaster.
Dr. Gregory J. ColeProfessor and Department Head, Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences
Director, Comparative Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program
North Carolina State University
Research Interests: Analyses of the role of agrin in cell-matrix interactions in the developing and aging nervous system. My research focuses on two areas of nervous system development, with an emphasis on the molecular basis of extracellular matrix-cell interactions development. A major focus of my laboratory is on the role of heparan sulfate proteoglycan in these processes. Our current focus is on the heparan sulfate proteoglycan agrin, and its role in the developing and aging nervous system. Anaylsis of the function of olfactomedins in zebrafish development. A second research emphasis in my laboratory is to understand the function of olfactomedins in zebrafish development. We are using morpholino antisense oligonucleotide knockdown strategies to analyze the function of olfactomedins in early zebrafish development.
Dr. Lawrence DeLucasDirector of Macromolecular Crystallography Center
Professor of Optometry, Senior Scientist in VSRC
University of Alabama, Birmingham
http://www.uab.edu
Teaching Interest: Optometry, Biotechnology,Biochemistry
Research Interests: Protein Crystallography, Structured-based Drug design, and Biotechnology. His laboratory recently developed a nanocrystallization system that uses a proprietary chemical screen to rapidly and efficiently determine protein crystallization conditions. This system requires less than 400mg of purified proteins to screen as many as 2,000 different chemical conditions in less than 8 hours. This new capability allows virtually any protein to be crystallized using solutions that span a variety of viscosities, pH’s, and ionic strengths.
Dr. Susan HollingsheadDirector, UAB Automated Sequencing Facility
Research Associate Professor of Microbiology
University of Alabama, Birmingham
http://www.uab.edu
Research interest: Streptococcus pneumoniae-Genome Diversity Project. This project has two components. The first component is to build a sequence database comprising 10kbp regions sampled from a set of highly diverse strains of S. pneumoniae. The second component is to fully sequence a second strain of S. pneumoniae. The genome diversity data will serve as an important resource that defines the level of sequence relatedness between strains within the species S.pneumoniae. DNA sequemce from 14 strains has been generated (11,388 sequence reads) defining 346 unique contigs from 726,548 base pairs of sequence. This includes data derived from 13 separate chromosomal regions.
Dr. Ashok KumarAssociate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing Research Center
University of South Florida
Teaching interests: Areas of design, processing, and characterization of novel emerging high-technology materials of semiconductor, high-Tc superconductor, diamond, ferroelectric, and magnetic thin films coatings for the use in different commercial sectors.
Research interests: Focus on the use of nanotechnology for biological applications. Dr. Kumar has established ‘Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Research Laboratory’ (AMMRL). The purpose of establishing AMMRL at the USF is to develop a multi-disciplinary research laboratory for excellence in advanced thin films/coatings for microelectric and MEMS applications, superhard coatings for tribological applications, and specific coatings for biomedical applications. The main focus of the research project will be to improve the basic and applied understanding of thin film material synthesis, characterization, and properties of interest for industrial applications.
Dr. Libby MorrisAssociate Professor and Graduate Coordinator
The University of Georgia
Her teaching and research interests include evaluation and assessment, faculty development, first year programs, and online education. Currently, she is the principal investigator for a multi-year contract to investigate teaching and learning online in collaboration with the Advanced Learning Technologies unit of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.
Dr. Walter SappDirector of Research Centers at Minority Institutions
Tuskegee University
Research interests: Molecular biology, immunology, public health, epidemiology, theriogenology, and environmental toxicology. Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus model for studying immunodeficiency diseases. Murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome model for AIDS research. Computational modeling of the epidemiology of AIDS in humans.
Dr. Tim TownesDirector of Sickle Cell Center
Chair and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
University of Alabama, Birmingham
Research interest: The major research interest of our laboratory is the regulation of gene expression during development. A classic model of developmental control in eukaryotes is the temporal-specific switching of hemoglobins. In order to investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in globin gene regulation, we have introduced human fetal (g) and adult (b) globin genes into fertilized mouse eggs. Both human g- and b-globin genes are correctly regulated in the transgenic mice that develop. The human g-globin gene is expressed late but not early. Precise definition of the sequences responsible for this temporal-specific control and identification and isolation of the proteins that interact with them are major goals.
Internal Advisory Committee Members
Dr. Joe A. Lee, President
Alabama State University
Dr. Evelyn M. White, Vice President
Office of Academic Affairs