Faculty

Full-Time Faculty

Catharina Coenen  Plant hormone physiology.  Undergraduate work, Universität Bremen (Germany); Ph.D., Oregon State University.

Alice Deckert  Kinetic approach to reaction mechanisms.  B.S. (chemistry), B.A. (mathematics), Bethel College; Ph.D., Stanford University.

Ivelitza Garcia  Structure and function of RNA binding proteins; biophysical and molecular biology methods for investigating interactions between RNA and proteins.  B.S. (chemistry), Florida International University; Ph.D.(Biological Chemistry/Biophysics), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Bradley Hersh  Developmental genetics; evolutionary developmental biology.  B.A., Kenyon College; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Tricia Humphreys  Microbiology; host-pathogen interactions.  B.A., Thomas More College; Ph.D., Miami University.

Ann Kleinschmidt  Gene regulation; protein structure and function.  B.S., University of Wisconsin; Ph.D., University of California (Los Angeles).

Shaun Murphree  Synthetic methodology using polyfunctional sulfones; synthesis of furan-containing compounds of biological relevance; development of methods for microwave-assisted organic synthesis (MAOS).  B.A., Colgate University, 1984; Ph.D., Emory University, 1991.

Margaret Nelson (chair)  Developmental, cell, and molecular biology.  B.A., Williams College; M.A., Ph.D., Princeton University.

Martin Serra   Structure and folding of RNA; biophysical methods for investigation of RNA structure.  B.A., Tarkio College; Ph.D., Ohio University.

Selected Faculty Publications

  • “Genetic evidence for auxin involvement in arbuscular mycorrhiza initiation,” published in New Phytologist
  • “A comprehensive study of the formation and reaction of a tethered N-hydroxysulfosuccinimidyl ester utilized to covalently tether proteins to surfaces,” published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry
  • “Differential RNA-dependent ATPase activities of four rRNA processing yeast DEAD-box proteins,” published in Biochemistry
  • “The UBX-regulated network in the haltere imaginal disc of D. melanogaster,” published in Developmental Biology
  • “Rapid divergence of two classes of Haemophilus ducreyi,” published in The Journal of Bacteriology
  • “Sequences in intron 51 of the von Willibrand Factor gene target promoter activation to a subset of lung endothelial cells in transgenic mice,” published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry
  • “Spectroscopic characterization and assignment of reduction potential in the tetraheme cytochrome c554 from Nitrosomonas Euorpaea,” published in Journal of the American Chemical Society
  • “Thermodynamic analysis of 5′ and 3′ single and 3′ double-nucleotide overhangs neighboring wobble terminal base pairs,” published in Nucleic Acids Research

Faculty Achievements

  • Two program faculty will serve as mentors to Beckman Scholars as part of a $77,200 grant from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation in support of student-faculty research extending across two summers and the intervening academic year.
  • Program faculty were recipients of the Merck/AAAS Grant for Interdisciplinary Work in Biochemistry ($60,000) to fund the development of an interdisciplinary junior seminar and provide stipends for summer research students.
  • Recipient of National Science Foundation CAREER grant (nearly $280,000) to fund equipment and supplies, stipends for summer research students, and course development focused on integration of research and teaching.
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture grant ($75,000) given to study the role of plant hormones in symbiosis between plants and fungi.
  • Recipient of four successive National Science Foundation RUI grants (current one for nearly $240,000) to fund collaborative student-faculty research on RNA structure.
  • Fogarty Senior International Fellow at CNRS in Strasbourg, France.
  • Fulbright Teacher/Scholar Award for work at the Karl-Franzens University in Graz, Austria.
  • Two program faculty have been the recipient of Allegheny’s Thoburn Award for Excellence in Teaching; Three have received funding via Allegheny’s Demmler Award Program to support innovations in teaching.