People

Faculty

Julie Bossuyt

Julie Bossuyt

  • Associate Professor
  • Department of Pharmacology
  • School of Medicine
Julie Bossuyt studies the molecular mechanisms that drive activation and function of the related kinases, protein kinase D and calmodulin dependent protein kinase in healthy and failing hearts. Her lab focuses on understanding the local regulatory mechanisms that control the myriad cellular outcomes for these multifunctional kinases. Tools in the lab include cutting-edge high resolution fluorescence imaging techniques (such as FRET, TIRF, FRAP and confocal) and novel biosensors to obtain unique insight into the spatiotemporal dynamics of signaling in cardiac cells.
Siobhan Brady

Siobhan Brady

  • Professor
  • HHMI Faculty Scholar
  • Department of Plant Biology
  • College of Biological Sciences
How do cells within plant roots respond to the multitude of stresses they face in the world?  From cell type molecular signatures to networks – Siobhan Brady tries to understand and harness these adaptive responses to help tackle current and future environmental challenges. Research in the Brady lab focuses on understanding how a network of transcriptional interactions regulates tissue development and function. Projects in the lab range from characterizing xylem and cortex cell development  in response to the environment in Arabidopsis thaliana, Sorghum bicolor, Solanum lycopersicum and the drought-adapted Solanum pennelii to determining regulatory networks underlying various components of central and specialized metabolism.
Sean Burgess

Sean M. Burgess

  • Professor
  • Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • College of Biological Sciences
Sean Burgess explores the dynamic chromosome events that occur during the process of meiosis and how these processes are integrated to achieve accurate chromosome segregation. Chromosome missegregation is one of the leading causes of birth defects in humans. The Burgess lab combines the use of a wide array of tools, including genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry and live-cell imaging using budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and zebrafish Danio rerio as model systems.
Fred Chedin

Frédéric Chédin

  • Professor
  • Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • College of Biological Sciences
Frédéric Chédin studies how mammalian cells regulate gene expression programs through the formation of unusual DNA structures during transcription. The Chédin lab uses biochemical, molecular genetics, and cell culture approaches, with a focus on high-throughput genomics methods backed by computational analyses.
Sean Collins

Sean Collins

  • Assistant Professor
  • Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • College of Biological Sciences
Sean Collins studies how individual cells process information, make decisions, and enact appropriate responses. He uses human neutrophils as a model system and examines how they process dynamic extracellular chemical cues to guide their behavior. Methods in his lab include a combination of techniques with particular emphasis on systematic quantitative analysis of genetic perturbations, direct monitoring of signaling using live-cell imaging of fluorescent biosensors, and mathematical modeling.
Scott Dawson

Scott Dawson

  • Associate Professor
  • Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
  • College of Biological Sciences
Scott Dawson studies cytoskeletal organelle function, and evolution in the widespread protistan parasite Giardia lamblia. We are also interested in how cytoskeletal variation, function, and evolution is achieved in diverse amoeboid protists.  With respect to parasitology, we also are interested in the metabolic interactions that occur between Giardia and the host gut microbiome.
Elva Diaz

Elva Diaz

  • Professor
  • Department of Pharmacology
  • School of Medicine
Elva Diaz studies molecular mechanisms of brain development, function and disease in rodent model systems. We used expression profiling as a tool to identify genes that are developmentally regulated during mouse brain development. Candidate genes are characterized with molecular and cellular techniques and transgenic mice. Currently, we have focused our efforts on molecules that function at excitatory synapses in the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for learning and memory.
Bruce Draper

Bruce Draper

  • Professor
  • Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • College of Biological Sciences
Bruce Draper studies mechanisms that regulate the development and function of germline stem cell in zebrafish, with a main focus on female germline stem cells. The Draper laboratory studies factors that function within the stem cells, as well as those that are required for the development of the somatic gonad.
JoAnne Engebrecht

JoAnne Engebrecht

  • Professor
  • Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • College of Biological Sciences
JoAnne Engebrecht investigates molecular mechanisms underlying germline biology. Germ cells are essential for the propagation of all sexually reproducing organisms.  Germline stem cell divisions, meiotic differentiation and gametogenesis must be tightly coupled to ensure the formation of viable progeny; perturbations result in infertility, inviability and birth defects.
David Furlow

David Furlow

  • Professor
  • Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior
  • College of Biological Sciences
David Furlow studes the molecular basis of hormone action, particularly during development. Analysis of gene expression programs during morphogenesis. Genome editing in model organisms, particularly applied to nuclear hormone receptor function.