News
June 3, 2020
IMSD awarded grant to continue training diverse scientists
New funding changes some structure to program Olivia Warner By Jerry Duggan | Bond LSC Mizzou was always near the top of Olivia Warner’s list for Ph.D. programs. Its renowned psychological sciences program, sound training in Warner’s specialty of addiction and supportive, collaborative atmosphere that she didn’t see at other places made it a top choice on paper. But she was not introduced to her most formative program in terms of professional development until she had already moved across the country from Arizona to mid-Missouri. Within her first month, Warner learned of the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development…
June 1, 2020
Studying Drug Resistance, One Connection at a Time
Kinjal Majumder | photo by Mariah Cox, Bond LSC By Becca Wolf | Bond LSC Where you are creates opportunities. The structure and placement of labs encourages researchers to collaborate and talk to each other and often, connections and friendships are formed. For Kinjal Majumder, a virologist and postdoctoral fellow in the David Pintel lab at Bond Life Sciences Center, that has meant bouncing many ideas off friends and colleagues from neighboring labs. Little did he know that one connection would lead him to interesting findings in a field outside of virology. Those results may help make progress…
May 29, 2020
#IAmScience Landon Swartz
By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Landon Swartz, undergraduate student researcher, is motivated by a simple desire — to help others through the power of computer engineering. Coming from Springfield, Missouri, Swartz decided to go to Mizzou in 2017. “I chose engineering,” Swartz said. “It fits my idea of solving problems, but also lets me be able to see a benefit to people.” Swartz got involved in research through the honors college after he talked to David Mendoza, associate professor in plant sciences and Bond LSC investigator. Mendoza was looking for people to…
May 27, 2020
Shirwan, Yolcu Bring Pedigree, ProtEx Technology to Bond LSC
Haval Shirwan and Esma Yolcu By Jerry Duggan | Bond LSC Haval Shirwan and Esma Yolcu arrive at Bond LSC as accomplished researchers. While having different expertise within the field of immunology, the married couple collaborates extensively on research and together developed ProtEx technology, an alternative to traditional methods of gene therapy for immunomodulation with applications to autoimmune diseases, transplantation, cancer immunoprevention and immunotherapy, and vaccines against infections With work published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and 19 patents to Shirwan’s name, they both arrive at Mizzou ready to build on their research background and contribute to the new…
May 25, 2020
Probing for answers
Kwaku Tawiah, Ph.D. candidate, poses on the fifth floor of Bond LSC. | photo by Mariah Cox, Bond LSC. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Disease diagnosis takes money, time and technology — something rural communities don’t always possess. Kwaku Tawiah, a fifth-year graduate student, and researchers in the Burke lab are creating a probe that can diagnose and inhibit viral diseases cheaply, in less time and without electricity. “With some of these infections, the faster you’re able to detect it, the better,” Tawiah said. “So, one of my motivations in grad school was to come…
May 22, 2020
Newest Bond LSC faculty addition adds to focus on inflammation
Olga Baker, professor of Otolaryngology, will join Bond LSC June 1, 2020, as our newest principal investigator with a focus on inflammation. | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Olga Baker is the type of person who acts when she sees a problem. In her home country of Venezuela, Baker worked as a dentist who was part of a team that treated head and neck cancer patients. “They told me how much they suffered as I used to do their cavities and fix their teeth,” Baker said. “That’s how…
May 19, 2020
Shifting Focus: HIV researcher takes on COVID-19
Marc Johnson | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC By Becca Wolf | Bond LSC Marc Johnson’s research focus changed suddenly one day this February when he received a shipment. That package of synthesized SARS-COV2 spike genes — the virus that causes COVID-19 — has now taken him down a new path. “It was unusual, nothing like this has ever happened to me before,” Johnson said, an MU professor of molecular microbiology and immunology and Bond LSC investigator. “I’ve never had to switch directions so abruptly before but, you know, we’re always taking on new projects and shifting,…
May 15, 2020
#IAmScience Michael Petris
By Becca Wolf | Bond LSC Growing up more than 9,000 miles away in Melbourne, Australia, Michael Petris never thought he would work at MU, especially since he could not even locate the state of Missouri on a map. Now a professor of biochemistry, Petris was introduced to science early on in his life by his mother, who was a microbiologist and a high school science teacher, who made sure to immerse her children in the science field. He remembers growing up watching Australian wildlife documentaries and being interested in his science classes at school. After completing secondary…
May 13, 2020
The Little Robot That Can
The imaging system helps collect data on the growth of plants. | photo contributed by Samuel McInturf. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC In a corner of the David Mendoza lab, a small machine runs back and forth across a track, taking pictures continuously of plants grown in clear square plates. This machine not only saves time during data collection but also helps the lab track the growth of plants in real time. After almost five years of development, the Mendoza lab has reached the final stretch in their robotic endeavors. Now, they’re putting finishing…
May 1, 2020
#IAmScience Bruna Luz
By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC At four years old, first year Ph.D. student Bruna Luz was running around and catching bugs in her backyard just to stare at them, trying to understand how they worked. “Biology has always been part of my life,” Luz said. Now, Luz studies soybean genetics and how soybeans interact with rhizobia in the Gary Stacey lab at Bond LSC. Rhizobia are bacteria that fix nitrogen in the soil, providing nutrients to the soybean plant. In exchange, the bacteria feed off of photosynthesis products created by the plant, forming a symbiotic…
April 30, 2020
Treating COVID-19: Bond LSC lab explores effectiveness of remdesivir and other potential drugs
By Jerry Duggan | Bond LSC As countries hang their hopes on the drug remdesivir for battling COVID-19, recent modeling and computer-aided drug evaluation at the University of Missouri caution to keep an open mind and consider other drug treatments. Kamlendra Singh at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center evaluated remdesivir — an antiviral originally developed to treat Ebola — and several other drugs for long-term success in treating coronavirus causing the pandemic across the world. His results were published April 26 in the journal Pathogens. “Remdesivir is working against COVID-19, but the other drugs may also be as…
April 30, 2020
Treating COVID-19: Bond LSC lab explores effectiveness of remdesivir and other potential drugs
By Jerry Duggan | Bond LSC As countries hang their hopes on the drug remdesivir for battling COVID-19, recent modeling and computer-aided drug evaluation at the University of Missouri caution to keep an open mind to other drug treatments. Kamlendra Singh at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center assessed remdesivir and several other drugs for long-term success in treating coronavirus causing the pandemic across the world. His results were published April 26 in the journal Pathogens. “Remdesivir is working against COVID-19, but these other drugs are in no way inferior to it,”…