Michael Adams
Distinguished Research Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Functional and structural genomics, metabolism and enzymology of organisms
that grow near 100C.
Faculty
Kylee Jo Duberstein
Associate Professor
Neuroscience
Animal biomechanics related to disease, injury, conditioning, and nutrition; functional outcomes assessment related to therapeutics development
Brad Nelms
Assistant Professor
Plant Biology
Cell differentiation during plant reproduction, genomics and gene regulatory networks, single-cell RNA-sequencing, reprogramming cell fate
Aaron P. Mitchell
Professor
Microbiology
We use genetic and genomic approaches to understand mechanisms of fungal pathogenesis and drug resistance.
Adam Greer
Assistant Professor
Marine Sciences
Zooplankton ecology, predator-prey interactions, ocean biophysical coupling, plankton imaging and analysis
Parastoo Azadi
Senior Research Scientist, CCRC
Technical Director — Analytical Services, CCRC
Structural analysis and hands-on training for all glycoconjugates using mass spectrometry and NMR
Nikki Shariat
Assistant Professor
Population Health; Microbiology
Molecular epidemiology of bacterial pathogens using metagenomics; ecology of Salmonella serovars in host animals and environments.
Emily Noble
Assistant Professor
Foods and Nutrition; Neuroscience
Central regulation of feeding behavior, diet and cognitive function, the gut microbiome-brain connection, exercise and brain energy metabolism
Lisa Renzi Hammond
Assistant Professor
Neuroscience
Visual neuroscience; risk for neurodegenerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and Alzheimer's and related dementias
David Crich
Professor; Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Drug Design
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences; Chemistry
Organic and medicinal chemistry; carbohydrate chemistry; glycomimetics; drug design and development with emphasis on multi-drug resistant infectious diseases
Megan Peterson
Assistant Professor
Plant Biology
Plant evolutionary ecology; population dynamics; responses to climate change
Diego Huet
Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
The Huet Lab will use metabolomics and CRISPR-based approaches to understand the mitochondrial and organellar biology of a class of protozoan parasites, the apicomplexans
Natalia Ivanova
Associate Professor
Genetics
Transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms regulating preimplantation development, pluripotency, differentiation and cellular reprogramming in humans
Jin Xie
Associate Professor
Chemistry
Nanoparticle-based imaging and drug delivery; radiation therapy and photodynamic therapy
Kelly M. Hines
Assistant Professor
Chemistry
Lipidomic and metabolomic analyses of antimicrobial resistant pathogens using ion mobility and mass spectrometry
Anny Chung
Assistant Professor
Plant Biology
Plant population and community ecology; plant-microbe interactions, global change biology; microbial ecology
Adam W. Barb
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Our goal is to define the impact of protein post-translational modifications on structure and function in the immune system.
Assaf Oshri
Associate Professor
Neuroscience
Youth and Family Resilience: how neurobiological and socioemotional systems adapt to psychosocial stress using multi-level methods (e.g., fMRI, psychophys, observations)
Amanda Spivak
Associate Professor
Marine Sciences
Coastal ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry; ecosystem resilience to and recovery from disturbances; global change; carbon cycling.
Breeanna Urbanowicz
Assistant Research Scientist
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
Structure and function of enzymes involved in plant polysaccharide biosynthesis and modification; to develop pathway engineering or targeted genomics approaches for enhanced production of bio-materials, -products, and -fuels.
Xiaozhong (John) Yu
Associate Professor
Toxicology
Molecular Toxicology, Reproductive Toxicology, Endocrine disruptor, Risk Assessment, In Vitro 3D cell culture model, and Single cell based-High Content Image Analysis
Zhong-Ru (Paul) Xie
Assistant Professor
Bioinformatics
Computational drug discovery, simulation model, new computational tools for drug design
Gerald W. Hart
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Eminent Scholar in Drug Discovery;
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
Nutrient Regulation of Signaling and Transcription: Mechanisms Underlying Diabetes, Neurodegeneration and Cancer
Ankita Garg
Assistant Professor
Infectious Diseases
Immunopathogenesis of intracellular pathogens (HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis); non-infectious morbidities in People Living With HIV.
Neil J. Grimsey
Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Defining the spatiotemporal regulation of kinase pathways and the regulation of GPCR induced inflammation and proangiogenic signaling, for the development of therapeutic agents.
Eva-Maria Strauch
Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Protein design and engineering, design of anti-virals and immunogens,
protein chemistry and re-purposing of viral surface proteins,
computational biology.
Brian Kvitko
Assistant Professor
Microbiology
Molecular mechanisms of plant immune action and bacterial pathogen virulence in model and crop pathosystems. Tool/technique development for phytopathogenesis systems biology and translational research.
A to Z
Mike Adang
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Entomology
Ecology of macroinvertebrates in freshwater wetlands and streams.
Jon Amster
Professor
Chemistry
Structural analysis and characterization of glycosaminoglycans using mass spectrometry
Jill Anderson
Associate Professor
Genetics
Evolutionary genetics and population ecology of plants; global change biology;
field ecology; seed dispersal ecology; frugivorous fish.
Tessa Andrews
Associate Professor
Genetics
Undergraduate evolution education; instructor experiences, knowledge,
and skills in teaching biology; teaching context and climate in life science departments.
Norris Armstrong
Associate Professor
Genetics
Assessment in large classes; undergraduates as a resource to improve teaching and learning;
promoting active learning in large lectures.
Jonathan Arnold
Professor
Bioinformatics; Genetics
Professor, Genetics; Research interest: Fungal gene regulatory
and biochemical networks, and biological clocks.
Michael Arnold
Distinguished Research Professor
Genetics
Evolutionary significance of genetic exchange; effects of hybridization in natural
populations of plants and animals.
Fikri Avci
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mechanisms of immune activation by carbohydrate antigens; design and development
of knowledge-based vaccines and therapeutics against pathogens and cancers.
Website
Parastoo Azadi
Senior Research Scientist, CCRC
Technical Director — Analytical Services, CCRC
Structural analysis and hands-on training for all glycoconjugates using mass spectrometry and NMR
Justin Bahl
Associate Professor
Infectious Diseases; Bioinformatics
Ecology, epidemiology and evolution of infectious RNA viruses (Influenza A virus, avian paramyxovirus,
RSV, MERS-CoV) in animals and humans
Maor Bar-Peled
Associate Professor
Plant Biology
Molecular cell biology of the wall, Biofuel and BioEnergy, Golgi as model for System biology, Plant Immunity.
Adam W. Barb
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Our goal is to define the impact of protein post-translational modifications on structure and function in the immune system.
Jessica Barb
Assistant Research Scientist
Plant Biology
Crop breeding and genetics.
Website coming
Michael Bartlett
Georgia Athletic Association Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences; Neuroscience
ADME of drugs and environmental toxicants; impact of compounds on memory,
cognition, and neuropathic pain; oligonucleotide therapeutics and biomarkers.
Darold Batzer
Professor
Entomology
Distinguished Research Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Research interest:
Functional and structural genomics, metabolism and enzymology of organisms that grow near 100C.
Jeff Bennetzen
Professor
Genetics; Bioinformatics
Plant genomics and genome evolution, transposable elements,
and regulatory gene evolution.
Douda Bensasson
Assistant Professor
Bioinformatics; Plant Biology
Genome bioinformatics, ecological and evolutionary genomics of yeast.
Pengpeng Bi
Assistant Professor
Genetics
We use the advanced genetic mouse models to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying
several diseases: obesity, diabetics, muscle and heart diseases.
Brian Binder
Associate Professor
Marine Sciences
Ecology and physiology of marine pico-phytoplankton; regulation of growth in cyanobacteria;
application of flow cytometry to problems in marine microbial ecology.
David Blum
Director,
Bioexpression & Fermentation Facility
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Protein expression, development of commercially relevant monoclonal antibodies.
Peggy Brickman
Professor
Plant Biology
Factors that motivate undergraduates to learn science; scientific literacy skill acquisition;
and effective methods to provide instructional feedback.
Melinda Brindley
Associate Professor
Infectious Diseases
Arenavirus glycoprotein structure and function; virus entry and membrane fusion; emerging virus-host interactions.
Mark Brown
Professor
Entomology; Neuroscience
Neuroendocrinology of development, reproduction, and metabolism in insects;
evolution of peptide hormone structure and function.
Alexander Bucksch
Assistant Professor
Plant Biology; Bioinformatics
Computational Plant Science, Phenotyping, Plant Imaging and Simulation.
Gaelen Burke
Assistant Professor
Entomology
Functional and evolutionary genomics of microbial associations with insects; virology, symbiosis, immunity
Haini Cai
Associate Professor
Cellular Biology; Neuroscience
Nuclear and genome organization; Chromatin structure and function; Gene regulation in Drosophila development.
Houjian Cai
Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences
Post-translational modification including protein acylation, fatty acid metabolism,
prostate stem cell, Src family kinases, prostate cancer, small molecular inhibitor.
Jarrod A. Call
Assistant Professor
Physiology & Pharmacology; Neuroscience
Skeletal muscle and mitochondrial physiology. Regenerative medicine following traumatic muscle injury, disease, and aging.
Maria Belen Cassera
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Metabolomic approaches applied to drug target selection and validation in human pathogens;
discovery and development of new chemotherapeutic interventions.
Website
Don Champagne
Associate Professor
Entomology
Role of arthropod salivary factors in pathogen transmission and immune responses in their vertebrate hosts.
Shu-Mei Chang
Professor
Plant Biology
Evolutionary Ecology of flowering plants; Plant mating system evolution.
Anny Chung
Assistant Professor
Plant Biology
Plant population and community ecology; plant-microbe interactions, global change biology; microbial ecology
Brett Clementz
Professor
Neuroscience
Structural, functional & genetic abnormalities in schizophrenia.
Julie Coffield
Associate Professor
Physiology and Pharmacology; Toxicology; Neuroscience
Neurotoxic agents that alter synaptic transmission. The actions of toxins such as
the Clostridial neurotoxins (Botulinum and Tetanus) at the mammalian neuromuscular junction.
Brian Condie
Associate Professor
Genetics; Neuroscience
The genetic analysis of mouse pharyngeal development and the development
of new tools for chromosome engineering.
David Crich
Professor; Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Drug Design
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences; Chemistry
Organic and medicinal chemistry; carbohydrate chemistry; glycomimetics; drug design and development with emphasis on multi-drug resistant infectious diseases
Brian Cummings
Associate Professor
Neuroscience; Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences; Toxicology
Molecular toxicology, cell signaling, prostate cancer, anti-cancer, kidney.
Steve Dalton
Professor
GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Neuroscience
Stem cell biology, development of cell therapies for type 1 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Pluripotent stem cells in early development and induced pluripotent stem cells- cell reprogramming.
Julie Stanton Dangremond
Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology
My research is focused on the use of metacognition to enhance student learning in biology.
Alan Darvill
Regents Professor, Director Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Structures and functions of the noncellulosic polysaccharides of plant primary cell walls.
Kelly Dawe
Distinguished Research Professor
Genetics; Plant Biology
Plant centromere and kinetochore structure and function.
Claire De La Serre
Assistant Professor
Neuroscience
Development and prevention of obesity, gut microbiota, gut-brain signaling, regulation of ingestive behavior
Katrien Devos
Professor
Bioinformatics; Plant Biology
Crop genetics, comparative genomics and genome evolution.
Kevin Dobbin
Assistant Professor
Bioinformatics
Cancer biomarkers, high dimensional data, translational cancer research.
Roberto Docampo
Professor
Cellular Biology
Cellular and molecular biology of acidocalcisomes; the role of polyphosphate in trypanosomatids.
Erin L. Dolan
Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Innovative Science Education
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Course-based undergraduate research, student integration into the
scientific community; research mentoring of undergraduate researchers.
Lisa Donovan
Professor
Plant Biology
Plant evolutionary ecophysiology, adaptations to stress.
Scott Dougan
Associate Professor
Cellular Biology
Molecular and cellular basis of pattern formation in vertebrates; developmental genetics of zebrafish.
Diana Downs
Professor
Microbiology
Bacterial physiology and metabolic integration using biochemical, genetic and metabolomics approaches.
Kylee Jo Duberstein
Associate Professor
Neuroscience; Animal and Dairy Science
Animal biomechanics related to disease, injury, conditioning, and nutrition; functional outcomes assessment related to therapeutics development
Kelly Dyer
Professor
Genetics
Molecular evolution and evolutionary genetics, in particular genetic conflict,
sex chromosome evolution, genetics of adaptation and speciation,
and host-parasite interactions.
Arthur Edison
Professor
GRA Eminent Scholar
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Genetics
Metabolomics and systems biology of Caenorhabditis elegans using NMR,
mass spec, and computational approaches.
Gaylen L. Edwards
Professor
Neuroscience; Physiology & Pharmacology; Toxicology
Neural processing of abdominal sensory information. Control of ingestive behavior and autonomic function.
Jonathan Eggenschwiler
Associate Professor
Genetics; Neuroscience
Genetic analysis of mouse development; cell fate specification in the embryonic
central nervous system; patterning of the body plan’s left-right axis.
Mark A. Eiteman
Professor
Microbiology
Fermentation and biotechnology with emphasis on microbial processes to generate fuels and chemicals; nutrient-limited processes; central metabolism and the effect of redox constraints.
Jorge Escalante-Semerena
UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor
Microbiology
Prokaryotic metabolism and physiology with emphasis on protein acetylation, toxic metabolites,
and complex metabolic pathway analysis, integration.
Ronald D. Etheridge
Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology
Toxoplasma’s Strategies to Manipulate Host Immunity
Vanessa Ezenwa
Professor
Infectious Diseases
Environmental Genomics; Crocodilians; Reptilian Genomics; Molecular Ecology.
Mark Farmer
Professor
Cellular Biology
Protist systematics, cell evolution, and flagellar development.
Nikolay Filipov
Professor
Physiology and Pharmacology; Neuroscience; Cellular Biology; Toxicology
Major research focus areas: Neurotoxicology; Neuroimmunology; Basal ganglia, Neurodevelopmental, and Metabolic disorders.
Brian Forschler
Professor
Entomology
The mission of the Household and Structural Entomology program is acquisition of information
on behavior, biology, ecology and evolution of associations with arthropods and human habitation.
James Franklin
Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences; Neuroscience
Mitochondria in neuronal apoptosis.
Marc Frischer
Professor
Marine Sciences
Role of microbial diversity in marine environments and the utilization of molecular methods
to investigate microbial diversity, interactions between micro- and macroscopic organisms and
the functioning of marine ecosystems.
Amanda Frossard
Assistant Professor
Chemistry
Characterization of surface-active organics in marine and anthropogenic aerosol
particles and their effects on particle growth and water uptake
Jonathan Frye
Research Microbiologist
Microbiology
We investigate the development and spread of antimicrobial resistant Salmonella,
which is the most prevalent foodborne bacterial illness in the U.S.
Jacek Gaertig
Professor
Cellular Biology
Molecular cell biology of the cytoskeleton; molecular genetics of ciliates.
David Garfinkel
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Retrovirus-like transposons in budding yeast, control of transposition, restriction factors.
Ankita Garg
Assistant Professor
Infectious Diseases
Immunopathogenesis of intracellular pathogens (HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis); non-infectious morbidities in People Living With HIV
Travis Glenn
Associate Professor
Bioinformatics; Toxicology
Environmental Genomics; Crocodilians; Reptilian Genomics; Molecular Ecology.
Mary Goll
Assistant Professor
Genetics
Epigenetic regulation in the context of development and cancer. We focus on heterochromatin and primarily use zebrafish as a model system.
Adam Goodie
Professor
Neuroscience
Judgment and decision making, especially the role of control in decision making,
Bayesian updating, and cognitive contributors to problem gambling.
Phillip Greenspan
Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Inhibition of glycation and LDL oxidation by natural products and nutraceuticals.
Adam Greer
Assistant Professor
Marine Sciences
Zooplankton ecology, predator-prey interactions, ocean biophysical coupling, plankton imaging and analysis
Neil J. Grimsey
Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Defining the spatiotemporal regulation of kinase pathways and the regulation of GPCR induced
inflammation and proangiogenic signaling, for the development of therapeutic agents.
Tai L. Guo
Professor
Toxicology; Neuroscience
(Immuno)Toxicology of nanobiomaterials and endocrine disruptors; Diabetes, prostate cancer, asthma, probiotics, microbiome; Translational study (http://www.devertigo.com)
Brian W. Haas
Assistant Professor
Neuroscience
Biological basis of social behavior and emotion processing in humans.
Dave Hall
Associate Professor
Genetics
Experimental evolution in budding yeast. Mathematical models of evolution.
Robert Haltiwanger
Professor; GRA Eminent Scholar in Biomedical Glycosciences
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Neuroscience
Role of glycosylation in regulating Notch signaling, assisting protein folding, and development.
Donald Harn
Professor
GRA Distinguished Investigator
Infectious Diseases
Mechanistic analysis of parasite induced immune suppression. Translational research
on immuno-modulation pertaining to inflammation based diseases.
Vaccine development and trials.
Gerald W. Hart
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Eminent Scholar in Drug Discovery;
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
Nutrient Regulation of Signaling and Transcription: Mechanisms Underlying Diabetes, Neurodegeneration and Cancer
Eric T. Harvill
Professor
Infectious Diseases
Interactions between microbial pathogens and host immunity in the
mouse model using bacteria that naturally infect mice and
closely related strains that are important human pathogens.
Biao He
Professor
GRA Distinguished Investigator
Infectious Diseases
Paramyxovirus-host interactions, vaccine development, emerging paramyxovirus and onocylytic virus.
Kelly M. Hines
Assistant Professor
Chemistry
Lipidomic and metabolomic analyses of antimicrobial resistant pathogens using ion mobility and mass spectrometry
Philip V. Holmes
Professor
Neuroscience
Behavioral neuropharmacology; neuropeptides and trophic factors; plasticity; stress, depression, and addiction.
Shelly Hooks
Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences; Neuroscience
G-protein coupled receptors, molecular pharmacology, signal transduction, ovarian cancer, neural stem cells.
Tim Hoover
Professor
Microbiology
Gene regulation in bacteria; regulation of flagellar biogenesis; control of RpoN-dependent transcription in bacteria.
Diego Huet
Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
The Huet Lab will use metabolomics and CRISPR-based approaches to understand the mitochondrial and organellar biology of a class of protozoan parasites, the apicomplexans.
Brendan Hunt
Assistant Professor
Entomology
Behavioral and evolutionary genetics and epigenetics of social insects.
Natalia Ivanova
Associate Professor
Genetics
Transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms regulating preimplantation development, pluripotency, differentiation and cellular reprogramming in humans
Michael K. Johnson
Professor
Chemistry
The role and assembly of transition metal centers in metalloenzymes and metalloproteins.
Samantha Joye
Professor
Marine Sciences
Biogeochemical cycling of nutrients in aquatic systems (saline lakes, coastal environments,
deep ocean sediments). Biogeochemical and molecular ecological dynamics of microbial
community composition and microbial activity.
Chester Joyner
Assistant Professor
Infectious Diseases
All facets of host-parasite interactions during malaria, ranging from molecular pathogenesis to malaria immunology to transmission
Daichi Kamiyama
Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology; Neuroscience
Our research is aimed at identifying the principles of neural circuit assembly, which is key
to understanding the treatment of neurological disorders. To achieve this, we develop
imaging toolkits including fluorescent probes and advanced microscopes.
Website
Natarajan Kannan
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Bioinformatics
Evolutionary systems biology; protein kinase signaling in plants, pathogens and microbes.
Ray Kaplan
Professor
Infectious Diseases
Biology, molecular mechanisms, and population genetics of anthelmintic resistance in
parasitic nematodes
Anna Karls
Associate Professor
Microbiology
Mechanisms for microbial adaptation and virulence; specialized
DNA recombination in Neisseria meningitidis & N. gonorrhoeae;
sigma54 regulon in Salmonella Typhimurium.
Lohitash Karumbaiah
Assistant Professor
Neuroscience
Developing Translational Glycomaterials for Neural Tissue Repair and Neural Interfacing.
Eileen Kennedy
Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences
Chemical biology, kinase signaling, cancer, signal transduction, drug discovery.
Chang Hyun Khang
Assistant Professor
Plant Biology
Mechanisms of disease and immunity in the rice blast system; Fungal effector proteins; Nutrient uptake in fungi.
Edward Kipreos
Professor
Cellular Biology
Regulation of the cell cycle; ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and development.
Jessica Kissinger
Distinguished Research Professor
Bioinformatics; Genetics
Parasite genomics and the biology of genome evolution.
Kim Klonowski
Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology
Development and regulation of immunological memory.
Samarchith Kurup
Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology
Basic immunology of the liver and blood stages of malaria
Sidney Kushner
Distinguished Research Professor
Genetics
Molecular genetics of DNA repair and mechanisms of post-transcriptional gene regulation in E. coli.
Brian Kvitko
Assistant Professor
Microbiology
Molecular mechanisms of plant immune action and bacterial pathogen virulence in model and crop pathosystems. Tool/technique development for phytopathogenesis systems biology and translational research.
Dennis Kyle
Professor
Cellular Biology & Infectious Diseases
The discovery and development of new drugs to prevent or treat malaria and diseases
caused by brain-eating amoebae. Elucidating mechanism(s) of resistance
and discovering new drug treatment regimens, combinations, or strategies to overcome resistance.
Eric Lafontaine
Professor
ILS Graduate Coordinator
Infectious Diseases
Bacterial pathogenesis; role of adhesins in virulence; vaccine development.
Stacey L. Lance
Associate Research Scientist
Toxicology; Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
Evolutionary toxicology, disease ecology, impacts of natural and anthropogenic stressors on freshwater vertebrates.
William Lanzilotta
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
The mechanisms of metalloproteins involved in radical generation, oxidative stress protection,
as well as heme synthesis, sensing, aquisition and transport.
James Lauderdale
Associate Professor
Cellular Biology; Neuroscience
Developmental neurobiology: molecular genetic mechanisms of vertebrate eye and forebrain development.
Karl Lechtreck
Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology
Cell Biology of Cilia; Cilia-related diseases, Intracellular Transport.
Jae-Kyung Lee
Assistant Professor
Physiology & Pharmacology; Neuroscience
My research is focused on determining key molecules and their intrinsic mechanisms
in neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases.
Jim Leebens-Mack
Associate Professor
Plant Biology
Phylogenetics, genetics of diversification including speciation; molecular basis of adaptation;
evolutionary genomics; evolution of plant reproduction; organismal and molecular coevolution.
Paula Lemons
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
My research investigates problem solving among biochemistry undergraduates and the process
college science instructors go through as they innovate their teaching.
Zachary Lewis
Assistant Professor
Microbiology
Chromatin structure and function; Epigenetics; Eukaryotic genome stability; Histone H1.
Xiaorong Lin
Professor
Microbiology; Plant Biology
Human fungal pathogens, sexual reproduction and development in fungal pathogenesis
Erin K. Lipp
Professor
Microbiology
Environmental microbiology, microbial ecology, marine systems, water quality and public health, disease ecology
Dexi Liu
Panoz Professor of Pharmacy
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences; Neuroscience
Gene therapy, obesity, drug delivery, gene drug discovery.
Hongxiang Liu
Assistant Professor
Neuroscience
Sensory organs of taste: development, maintenance, and molecular regulations using genetically modified mouse models.
Liang Liu
Assistant Professor
Bioinformatics
Phylogenetics, evolutionary biology, statistics.
Tianming Liu
Professor
Bioinformatics; Neuroscience
Multiscale and multimodal brain mapping with applications to brain diseases.
Jason Locklin
Professor
Chemistry
Our research is focused on functional polymer interfaces. We are
currently developing methodologies and platforms that can be used
to study biological lubrication, patterning of cellular components in
two and 3 dimensions, patterning of glycosaminoglycans to study
nerve regeneration, 3D printing of biodegradable scaffolds, and antimicrobial coatings.
Wolfgang Lukowitz
Associate Professor
Plant Biology
Fertilization, and early cell-fate decisions in plant embryos.
Nancy Manley
Distinguished Research Professor
Genetics
Evolution, organogenesis, and function of the thymus and parathyroids.
Leidong Mao
Associate Professor
Bioinformatics
Micro- and nano-technology, lab-on-a-chip systems, microfluidics,
single cell study, cancer diagnostics.
Rodney Mauricio
Professor
Genetics
Ecological genetics of plants; invasive plants; genetics of adaptation.
Jennifer McDowell
Professor
Neuroscience
Schizophrenia, psychosis, cognitive control, plasticity, saccades, ocular motor system,
exercise, f/MRI, DTI.
Michael McEachern
Professor
Genetics
Fungal telomere structure and function, and their cellular role(s).
Richard Meagher
Distinguished Research Professor
Genetics; Neuroscience
Molecular genetics and evolution of Arabidopsis gene expression; engineering plants
for phytoremediation of ionic- and methyl-mercury.
Amy Medlock
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Understanding intracellular and intercellular heme transport.
Christof Meile
Professor
Marine Sciences
Biogeochemical nutrient cycling in porous media and aquatic systems, reactive transport modeling of microbially mediated processes.
Douglas Menke
Associate Professor
Genetics
Developmental Regulation of Gene Expression; Evolution of Vertebrate Morphology.
L. Stephen Miller
Professor & Director of Bio-imaging Research Center
Neuroscience
My recent laboratory work focuses on aspects of working memory, executive function,
and older adult cognition using structural and functional neuroimaging and neuropsychological tools.
Aaron P. Mitchell
Professor
Microbiology
We use genetic and genomic approaches to understand mechanisms of fungal pathogenesis and drug resistance.
Piliyur Seshadri MohanKumar
Professor
Neuroscience
Neuroendocrinology Reproductive Aging, Stress Axis and Metabolic Function,
Neuroendocrine-Immune Interactions, Prenatal Programming and its Neuroendocrine Consequences,
Neuroendocrine Effects of Exposure to Environmentally Relevant Chemicals
Sheba M.J.MohanKumar
Associate Professor
Neuroscience
Neuroendocrine immune interactions in the context of
Reproduction and Stress; Prenatal Stress and programming
of obesity; Environmental exposures and their impact
on Stress and Reproduction; Biomarker development for
various human diseases.
Debra Mohnen
Professor
Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Complex Carbohydrate Research
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Plant Biology
Biosynthesis and function of the plant cell wall polysaccharide pectin.
Anti-cancer effects of pectin.
Cory Momany
Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences
X-ray crystallography of macromolecules, prokaryotic transcriptional regulators.
Michelle Momany
Professor
Plant Biology
Cellular and molecular biology of polar growth in fungi.
Patricia Moore
Professor
Entomology
The role of developmental mechanisms in sexual selection and the evolution of reproductive strategies in insects.
Andy Moorhead
Assistant Professor
Infectious Diseases
Establishment of the parasite/host niche by filarial worms, specifically Brugia malayi, one of the causative agents of lymphatic filariasis.
Mary Ann Moran
Professor
Marine Sciences
Ecology of marine bacteria in the carbon and sulfur cycles;
application of ecological functional genomics techniques to marine microbes.
Kelley Moremen
Distinguished Research Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Biochemistry, molecular, and structural biology of mammalian glycoprotein biosynthesis and catabolism.
Silvia Moreno
Professor
Cellular Biology
Metabolism and drug development against protozoan parasites.
Calcium signaling and storage in Toxoplasma gondii.
Richard Morrison
Associate Professor
Chemistry
Development of synthetic organic methodologies to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Microwave-promoted synthesis of bioactive amines.
Luke Mortensen
Assistant Professor
Neuroscience
In vivo optical microscopy for bone and tissue regeneration.
Jarrod J. Mousa
Assistant Professor
Infectious Diseases
Human antibody-mediated immunity to inform next-generation
vaccine development; focus on immunity to major viral, bacterial,
and fungal human pathogens using multidisciplinary approaches in
immunology, structural biology,and biochemistry to study
antibody-antigen interactions at the molecular level.
Jan Mrázek
Associate Professor
Bioinformatics; Microbiology
Use bioinformatics and comparative genomics to study
relationships between the genomic DNA sequence and the
organism’s physiological characteristics,and regulatory
processes that govern the flow of genetic information.
Vasant Muralidharan
Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology
Molecular and cellular biology of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.
Mandi Murph
Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences
Chemical inhibitors of cancer, chemoresistance, tumor biology and animal models.
Ellen Neidle
Professor
Microbiology
We use the easy genetic system of a soil bacterium, Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1,to study diverse
aspects of gene expression and chromosomal rearrangements.This research has implications
for medical issues (gene amplification), environmental issues (bioremediation),
biotechnology/bioenergy (conversion of lignin to biofuels), and evolution (new methods for experimental evolution).
Brad Nelms
Assistant Professor
Plant Biology
Cell differentiation during plant reproduction, genomics and gene regulatory networks, single-cell RNA-sequencing, reprogramming cell fate
Emily Noble
Assistant Professor
Foods and Nutrition; Neuroscience
Central regulation of feeding behavior, diet and cognitive function, the gut microbiome-brain connection, exercise and brain energy metabolism
Karen Norris
Professor
Infectious Diseases
Vaccine dev for prevention of PCP and COPD, RSV infection, COPD; Immune Activation
and Aging, PAH; Immune-mediated mechanisms of pathogenesis, Type 2 diabetes and
metabolic syndrome, therapeutic testing; chronic immune activation/inflammation.
Kerry Oliver
Associate Professor
Entomology
Ecology and evolution of heritable symbiosis in insects.
Ron Orlando
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Solving biological/biomedical problems with mass spectrometry.
Assaf Oshri
Associate Professor
Neuroscience
Youth and Family Resilience: how neurobiological and socioemotional systems adapt to psychosocial stress using multi-level methods (e.g., fMRI, psychophys, observations)
Elizabeth Ottesen
Assistant Professor
Microbiology
Ecology and physiology of environmental microbes. The use of community genomics and
transcriptomics to examine microbial behavior in natural systems.
Andrew Park
Associate Professor
Infectious Diseases
Transient evolution of pathogens. Evolutionary processes involved in cross-species transmission. Evolutionary constraints in viral epidemiology.
Ben Parrott
Assistant Professor
Toxicology; Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
Environmental and ecological influences on development, reproduction,
and aging in wildlife and humans.
Andrew Paterson
Regents Professor and Head, Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory
Plant Biology; Genetics; Bioinformatics
My unit’s work addresses dimensions of plant genome biology relevant toward a more bio-based economy, linking increased fundamental knowledge to improved human lives.
Scott Pegan
Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences
Antibiotic & antiviral drug discovery, assay development, enzymology,
and structural biology, regulation of innate immune responses.
Chris Peterson
Professor
Plant Biology
Response and vulnerability of forests to natural (e.g. wind, fire) and anthropogenic disturbances (e.g. salvage logging),
and geographic patterns of disturbance severity.
David Peterson
Associate Professor
Infectious Diseases
Characterization of adhesion proteins which mediate host-parasite interactions in Plasmodium falciparum.
Megan Peterson
Assistant Professor
Plant Biology
Plant evolutionary ecology; population dynamics; responses to climate change
Robert Phillips
Professor
Chemistry;
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Enzymes involved in amino acid, especially tryptophan, metabolism which may be drug
targets for cancer, hypertension and neurodegenerative diseases.
Michael “Hawkeye” Pierce
Distinguished Research Professor
UGA Cancer Center Director
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Glycosyltransferase regulation of tumor cell adhesion and invasion; structure/function of lectins.
Vladimir Popik
Professor of Chemistry
Chemistry
Development of biorothogonal protein modification techniques, novel caging groups, and photoactivatable antitumor antibiotics.
James Prestegard
Professor Emeritus, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy to the characterization of biologically important systems.
Fred Quinn
Professor
Infectious Diseases
Tuberculosis pathogenesis; host-pathogen interactions.
Shannon Quinn
Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology
Biomedical imaging and large graph mining in public health applications.
Balazs Rada
Associate Professor
Infectious Diseases
Role of reactive oxygen species in host-microbe interactions of the respiratory mucosa,
neutrophil biology, pathomechanism of Pseudomonas infection in cystic fibrosis.
Lisa Renzi Hammond
Assistant Professor
Neuroscience
Visual neuroscience; risk for neurodegenerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and Alzheimer’s and related dementias
Rachel Roberts-Galbraith
Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology; Neuroscience
Regeneration and development; understanding cellular/molecular mechanisms that underlie neural regeneration in planarians.
Arthur Roberts
Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences; Toxicology
Development of high-throughput structural biology tools, biophysical methods,
NMR, and computer-aided drug-design to investigate drug-protein
interactions and human disease.
Pejman Rohani
Professor
Infectious Diseases
The ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, including measles, pertussis,
avian influenza, dengue and polio.
John Rose
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
X-ray structural biology, the mitochondrial inner membrane space transport system,
structure based vaccine and therapeutic design, improved/automated methods for
synchrotron SAD data collection and structure determination.
Ken Ross
Professor
Entomology
Population biology, evolutionary genetics, molecular systematics, and comparative
genomics of social insects (fire ants) with an emphasis on studies of genetic variation.
Ted Ross
Professor
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Ross explores new vaccine technologies for seasonal and pandemic influenza
as well as West Nile Virus, Dengue Chikungunya, Ebola, and HIV.
Dean Sabatinelli
Associate Professor
Neuroscience
Hemodynamic and electrocortical measures of emotional scene perception.
Robert Sabatini
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Molecular and biochemical parasitology: DNA modification, homologous recombination
and the regulation of antigenic variation in Trypanosoma brucei.
Liliana Salvador
Assistant Professor
Infectious Diseases; Bioinformatics
Computational ecology; ecology and evolution of infectious diseases;
evolutionary dynamics; animal movement.
Susan Sanchez
Professor
Infectious Diseases
Veterinary diagnostics; emerging clinical problems; antibiotic resistance;
epidemiology of diseases with special emphasis in zoonoses.
Jesse Schank
Associate Professor
Neuroscience; Physiology & Pharmacology
The role of stress and neuropeptides in drug seeking behavior using behavioral pharmacology,
neuroanatomy, and molecular neuroscience.
Paul Schliekelman
Associate Professor
Bioinformatics
My research group develops statistical and and computational approaches to better extract
information from biological data, particularly in the genotype-phenotype relationship.
Walter K. Schmidt Jr.
Professor
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Neuroscience
Molecular cell biology and biochemistry of proteases associated with isoprenylated protein
maturation and amyloidogenic peptide degradation; cancer; Alzheimer’s disease.
Bob Schmitz
Associate Professor
Genetics
Population epigenomics and mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance.
Cordula Schulz
Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology
Tissue replenishment from stem cells, Drosophila genetics.
Heinz-Bernd Schüttler
Professor
Bioinformatics
Computational biology, functional genomics, kinetics of biochemical reaction networks.
Nikki Shariat
Assistant Professor
Population Health; Microbiology
Molecular epidemiology of bacterial pathogens using metagenomics; ecology of Salmonella serovars in host animals and environments.
Ping Shen
Associate Professor
Cellular Biology; Neuroscience
Molecular and Cellular Basis of Brain Functions and Development in the Drosophila Model.
Amanda Spivak
Associate Professor
Marine Sciences
Coastal ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry; ecosystem resilience to and recovery from disturbances; global change; carbon cycling
Kathrin Stanger-Hall
Associate Professor
Plant Biology
Signal evolution in fireflies (Lampyridae); research in undergraduate education in the sciences.
Vincent Starai
Associate Professor
Infectious Diseases; Microbiology
Bacterial modulation of eukaryotic membrane dynamics for intracellular survival;
SNARE-dependent membrane fusion biochemistry.
Steven Stice
D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor
GRA Eminent Scholar
Regenerative Bioscience Center Director
Neuroscience; Toxicology
We are developing stem cell approaches to repairing bone and nerve injury in addition to
use of stem cells as a tool to screen toxins and potential drug therapies.
Mike Strand
Distinguished Research Professor
Entomology
Molecular and evolutionary biology of insect parasites; virology, immunology, symbiont evolution, reproduction.
Eva-Maria Strauch
Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Protein design and engineering, design of anti-virals and immunogens,
protein chemistry and re-purposing of viral surface proteins,
computational biology
Anne Summers
Professor
Microbiology; Toxicology
Environmental stress biology, using biochemical, biophysical, and ‘omics approaches to define
the roles of toxic metal exposure in chronic and infectious diseases.
Andrea Sweigart
Associate Professor
Genetics
Evolutionary genetics and genomics of natural plant populations.
Christine Szymanski
Professor
Microbiology
Microbial glycobiology lab characterizing bacterial glycoconjugate pathways, bacteriophage interactions with their hosts, and benefits of human milk oligosaccharides to develop novel vaccines and therapeutics for the prevention of diarrheal diseases and post-infectious neuropathies such as Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
Thiab Taha
Professor
Institute of Bioinformatics
Computational Science and Parallel Computing; Bioinformatics: Involved in a project called: Computing Life: to solve system of differential equations that model biochemical reaction networks by using efficient/parallel numerical methods.
Rick Tarleton
Professor
Cellular Biology
Mechanisms of immunity and disease in Trypanosoma cruzi infection (Chagas Disease); Basic and applied biology of T. cruzi.
Michael Terns
Distinguished Research Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Genetics; Microbiology
We study CRISPR-Cas immune systems that protect prokaryotes from viruses and provide
powerful research tools for important biotechnology and biomedical applications.
Michael Tiemeyer
Distinguished Research Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Neuroscience
Mechanisms that regulate the expression, function, and structure of tissue-specific glycans.
S. Mark Tompkins
Professor
Infectious Diseases; Toxicology
Transmission and pathogenicity of zoonotic influenza virus infection and development
of vaccination and the prevention and treatment of viral infections.
Dorset Trapnell
Assistant Professor
Plant Biology
Evolutionary biology and population genetics of natural plant populations, specifically evolutionary
factors that shape patterns of genetic variation and mechanisms for partitioning and maintaining species-wide diversity.
M. Stephen Trent
UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor
Infectious Diseases
Characterizing the assembly of bacterial surface structures, Development of vaccines for viral
and bacterial pathogens, Systems approaches to understanding microbial diseases
Ralph A. Tripp
Professor and Georgia Research Alliance Chair in Vaccine and Therapeutic Studies
Infectious Diseases; Toxicology
Disease intervention strategies for important human pathogens and emerging infectious diseases of zoonotic origin;
mechanisms of immunity; virus-host interface.
C.J. Tsai
Professor, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar
Bioinformatics; Genetics; Plant Biology
Growth-defense tradeoff, phenylpropanoid metabolism and carbon allocation,
gene family evolution and functional diversification, alternative splicing and gene duplication.
Breeanna Urbanowicz
Assistant Research Scientist
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology;
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
My current research focuses on understanding the structure and function of enzymes involved in plant polysaccharide biosynthesis and modification with the long term goal to develop pathway engineering or targeted genomics approaches for enhanced production of bio-materials, -products, and -fuels.
Jeffrey Urbauer
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Chemistry
Structural biology of transcription regulation, steroid hormone activation and breast cancer.
Esther van der Knaap
Professor
Genetics; Plant Biology
The regulation of fruit shape and size of tomato and other Solanaceous crops
Maria Viveiros
Associate Professor
Physiology & Pharmacology; Toxicology
Mammalian germ cell and early embryonic development; meiotic chromosome segregation in oocytes;
genomic instability; impact of age and environment on meiotic division.
Kevin Vogel
Assistant Professor
Entomology
Integrating physiology, genomics, evolution, and microbial symbiosis to understand the biology of insect vectors of disease.
John J. Wagner
Professor
Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology; Toxicology
Neurophysiology of the hippocampus, cellular mechanisms of learning and memory, neuropharmacology of drugs of abuse and rodent models of addiction.
Jason Wallace
Assistant Professor
Bioinformatics
Quantitative genetics, crop genomics, crop-microbiome interactions.
Bi-Cheng Wang
Professor, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Structure-function studies by X-ray diffraction, transcription proteins,
structural genomics, phasing methods.
Wendy Watford
Associate Professor
Infectious Diseases
Regulation of host defense and tolerance by Stat transcription factors.
Lance Wells
Professor, Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Investigator
ILS Director
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
Role of protein glycosylation in intellectual disability, congenital muscular dystrophy, cancer, and viral infection.
Christopher M. West
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Oxygen- and glycosylation-dependent regulation of polyubiquitin ligases in Dictyostelium and Toxoplasma gondii;
Glycobiology of protozoa.
Franklin West
Associate Professor
Neuroscience; Regenerative Medicine
Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide. We explore the potential of neural stem cells
and other regenerative therapies to recover lost and damaged brain tissue. We utilize a novel
pig ischemic stroke model in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging, cognitive,
motor function testing and histology.
Janet Westpheling
Professor
Genetics
Molecular genetics of Steptomyces metabolic developmental processes; enhanced biofuel product by bacteria.
Steven E. Wheeler
Associate Professor
Chemistry
Computational organic chemistry, focusing on non-covalent interactions, asymmetric catalysis,
and drug design.
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Catherine White
Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences; Toxicology
The influence of gender on the disposition of drugs and drug carriers,
and their subsequent therapeutic or toxic outcomes, and the physiological-based
pharmacokinetic modeling for utilization in predicting toxicity and exposures.
Michael White
Assistant Professor
Genetics
Evolutionary Genomics and Sex Chromosome Evolution.
Zachary Wood
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
X-ray crystallographic and biochemical studies of nucleotide sugar metabolism.
Robert Woods
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Immunological carbohydrate-protein interactions studied by computational simulation and experimental methods.
Jin Xie
Associate Professor
Chemistry
Nanoparticle-based imaging and drug delivery; radiation therapy and photodynamic therapy
Zhong-Ru (Paul) Xie
Assistant Professor
Bioinformatics
Computational drug discovery, simulation model, new computational tools for drug design
May Xiong
Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences
Biomaterial-based systems in the area of iron chelation therapy, biological metal sensors,
overcoming antibiotic drug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria,
and chelation of transfusional iron overload.
Ying Xu
Professor, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Bioinformatics
Cancer Computational and Systems Biology, Computational Methods for
Protein Structure Prediction and Modeling.
Patricia Yager
Professor
Marine Sciences
Marine microbial ecology and biogeochemistry; climate change.
Yao Yao
Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences; Neuroscience
Blood Brain Barrier, Stroke, Neurological disorders, Stem Cell Biology, Extracellular Matrix Biology
Kaixiong Ye
Assistant Professor
Genetics; Bioinformatics
Nutritional Genomics; Human Genetics; Population and Quantitative Genomics;
Gene-Diet Interaction during human evolution and in metabolic diseases;
Xiaoqin Ye
Professor
Physiology and Pharmacology; Toxicology
Molecular mechanism of embryo implantation. Endocrine disruptors on puberty and early pregnancy.
Hang Yin
Assistant professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Stem cell biology, brown fat development and induction, non-coding
RNA, development of novel therapies for human obesity and type 2 diabetes
William York
Professor Emertius
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Structure, function, and assembly of plant cell walls; Bioinformatics for glycomics and glycobiology.
Xiaozhong (John) Yu
Associate Professor
Toxicology
Molecular Toxicology, Reproductive Toxicology, Endocrine disruptor, Risk Assessment, In Vitro 3D cell culture model, and Single cell based-High Content Image Analysis
Jason Zastre
Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences; Toxicology
Transport, micronutrient, hypoxia, cancer.
Nadja Zeltner
Assistant Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Cellular Biology; Neuroscience
Effects of pathological stress on cells of the peripheral nervous system and the adrenal gland. In vitro disease modeling using human pluripotent stem cells.
Shaying Zhao
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Bioinformatics
Cancer genomics; human junk DNA; genomic instability.
Y. George Zheng
Professor
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences
Drug Development, Chemical Biology, Cancer Disease Mechanism, Epigenetics and Genetics, Histone Modifications, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Enzymology, and Biophysics.