Faculty Scientists
Dr Eduard Akhunov
Plant Pathology – Studies molecular genomics and genetics of plant-pathogen interaction.
Dr Sajid Alavi
Grain Science – Studies food engineering; extrusion processing of food and feed; rheology; food microstructure imaging and structure texture relationships.
Dr Katsura Asano
Biology – Studies regulation of protein biosynthesis; Yeast genetics and biochemistry; Molecular and cell biology of insects and cancer.
Dr Guihua Bai
Agronomy - Studies gene interactions between wheat plant and wheat pathogens.
Dr Jianfa Bai
Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology – Studies molecular assays for animal and foodborne pathogen identification, quantification and characterization.
Dr Pankaj Baral
Biology – Studies neuroimmunology; Innate immunity; Airway inflammation; Infectious disease; Host-pathogen interactions.
Dr Bradley Behnke
Kinesiology - Studies how systemic interventions modify the tumor microenvironment to enhance treatment outcomes.
Dr Frank Blecha
Anatomy & Physiology - Studies host-pathogen interactions with particular emphasis on host defense peptides and interferons.
Dr Alice Boyle
Division of Biology – Studies consequences of climate variation for grassland and tropical birds at individual, population, and community levels.
Dr Mary Cain
Psychological Sciences - Studies how the post-weaning rearing environment alters neuronal structure and function in adulthood.
Dr Stephen K Chapes
Division of Biology - Studies macrophages, B cells and other white blood cells during infectious and chronic diseases and during space flight.
Dr Ming Shun Chen
Entomology - Studies plant - insect interactions.
Dr Rollie J Clem
Division of Biology - Studies arbovirus infection in mosquitoes and the role of apoptosis in antiviral defense.
Dr Steven Copp
Kinesiology - Studies reflex autonomic control of blood pressure during physical stress such as exercise.
Dr Sally Davis
Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology – Studies host-pathogen interactions for infectious agents including influenza A, Pneumocystis and Rift Valley fever virus.
Dr Timothy P Durrett
Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics – Studies the mechanism controlling substrate specificity in membrane-bound acyltransferases.
Dr Sherry D Fleming
Division of Biology - Studies the role of the innate immune response in tissue damage due to heart attack, surgery and autoimmune disease.
Dr Peying Fong
Anatomy & Physiology - Studies how transporters organize and communicate within functional complexes in epithelia using cellular and molecular methods.
Dr Roman Ganta
Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology - Studies Ehrlichia species and other vector-borne pathogens in defining the pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions at the cellular and molecular level.
Dr Revathi Govind
Division of Biology - Studies pathogenic mechanisms of the anaerobic bacterial pathogen, Clostridium difficile.
Dr SV Krishna Jagadish
Agronomy - Studies mechanisms inducing abiotic (heat, water-deficit and chilling) stress resilience in field crops.
Dr Michael Kanost
Studies biochemistry of innate immune responses in insects.
Dr Megan Kennelly
Plant Pathology – Studies integrated disease management.
Dr Phillip Klebba
Studies active transport, parthenogenesis and membrane transport in bacteria.
Dr Meena Kumari
Anatomy & Physiology - Studies RNA-protein interactions and role of RNA binding proteins in mRNA stability in neurons.
Dr Ping Li
Studies biologically important enzymes/proteins.
Dr Christopher R. Little
Plant Pathology - Studies fungal diseases and plant-microbe interactions of sorghum and soybean crops.
Dr Laman Mamedova
Animal Sciences and Industry - studies metabolic physiology and pharmacology in cell culture level and applied to dairy cattle nutrition.
Dr Jocelyn McDonald
Division of Biology - Studies the genetic control of cell migration in development and cancer, primarily using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster.
Dr Kristin Michel
Division of Biology – Studies insect immunity and vector-pathogen interactions.
Dr Wendy Reeves
Biology – Studies cell biology
Dr Nancy A Monteiro-Riviere
Anatomy & Physiology - Studies biological interactions of nanomaterials that influence the toxicity and cellular uptake in cells and tissues.
Dr Jesse Nippert
Division of Biology - Studies anatomical and physiological mechanisms of drought tolerance in grassland plant species.
Dr Thomas Mueller
Division of Biology - Examines the function and connectivity of the emotional brain in zebrafish.
Dr Salete Newton
Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics - Studies how iron compounds are transported through the cell wall in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.
Dr Bradley Olsen
Studies molecular and ecological basis of multicellular evolution.
Dr Charles Pickens
Psychological Sciences – Studies brain compensatory mechanisms
Dr Bethany Plakke
Psychological Sciences – Studies autism neurobiology
Dr. Raymond “Bob” Rowland
Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology - Studies swine viruses with particular emphasis on the interactions between cells and viral proteins.
Dr Kathrin Schrick
Division of Biology - Studies growth and development in plants focusing on lipid metabolites as membrane components and as signaling molecules.
Dr Bruce D Schultz
Anatomy & Physiology - Studies electrolyte movement in epithelia with a focus on cystic fibrosis and the human male reproductive tract.
Dr Stephanie R. Shames
Division of Biology - Studies mechanisms of innate immune activation and host-pathogen interactions using bacteria of the genus Legionella.
Dr Jishu Shi
Anatomy and Physiology - Studies novel animal vaccine adjuvants and strategies for vaccines targeting porcine reproductive & respiratory syndrome virus and classical swine fever virus.
Dr Yong-Cheng Shi
Grain Science and Industry - Studies structure, functional properties, and digestibility of starches in cereal grains, and interactions between protein, lipid and starch.
Dr Kristopher Silver
Entomology - Studies molecular mechanisms of insect toxicology.
Xiuzhi Susan Sun
Grain Science and Industry - Studies synthesis, structure, functional properties of biomaterials for environmental and biomedical applications and specialized in bio-adhesives bio-resins, bio-inks, and hydrogels.
Dr Masaaki Tamura
Anatomy & Physiology - Studies cancer cell-targeted nanoparticle-based gene therapy, stem cell and diet-based alternative medicine for cancer therapy.
Dr John Tomich
Biochemistry - Designs and characterizes synthetic peptides for potential uses as drugs or renewable biomaterials.
Dr Michael Veeman
Division of Biology - Studies the mechanisms of morphogenesis using in toto imaging and functional genomics approaches in the simple chordate Ciona.
Dr Nicholas Wallace
Division of Biology - Studies the manipulation of cell signaling and DNA damage repair by oncogenic viruses.
Dr Mark L Weiss
Anatomy and Physiology - Studies growth and differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells, embryonic stem cells and induce pluripotent stem cells.
Dr Ruth Welti
Biology – Studies structure and function of cell membranes; Mass-spectrometry-based lipid analysis.
Dr. Lisa Wilken
Biological and Agricultural Engineering – Studies biological-based cell lysis and extraction methods for recovery and fractionation of protein, lipids, and starch from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
Dr Yuntao Zhang
Anatomy & Physiology - Studies on protein chemistry of the important human and animal vector-borne infectious diseases such as Ehrlichia and Anaplasma.
Dr Anna Zolkiewska
Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics - Studies molecular and cellular interactions within the breast tumor microenvironment.
Dr Michal Zolkiewski
Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics - Studies protein structure and function and cellular protein quality control.