Archive
Erin Sparks
Erin Sparks has a BS in Biomedical Engineering, a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology, and Postdoctoral experience in Plant Molecular Biology. Sparks’ research uses interdisciplinary and multi-scale approaches to optimize plant resilience under abiotic and biotic stressors. She was a faculty member at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and the University of Delaware for 8 years. Sparks joined the University of Missouri as a joint faculty member with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in 2025.
Anthony Griffiths
Anthony Griffiths is a professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology.
Marc Libault
Marc Libault is a professor in the Division of Plant Science and Technology and a member of the Interdisciplinary Plant Group (IPG) at Mizzou. He received his PhD degree in 2004 from the University of Paris-Sud in Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology working on the HP1-like protein in Arabidopsis thaliana. In 2005, he joined Dr. Gary Stacey’s laboratory at the University of Missouri-Columbia as a post-doctoral associate to study the symbiotic interaction between the soybean root and the nitrogen-fixing bacteria, Rhizobia. In 2011, as a faculty at the University of Oklahoma, Libault developed a system biology approach on…
Paul de Figueiredo
Paul de Figueiredo is a professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the School of Medicine as well as in the Department of Pathobiology and Integrative Biomedical Science in the College of Veterinary Medicine. He is also a principal investigator at the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center. Paul holds degrees from Rice University (BA, Mathematics and Political Science), Stanford (MA, Religious Studies), and Cornell (PhD, Biochemistry, Molecular, and Cell Biology), and completed postdoctoral training at MIT and the University of Washington. He has broad experience and training in molecular biology, cell biology, microbiology, and biochemistry, with…
Wendy Picking
Wendy Picking is developing prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines to bacterial pathogens that cause enterica and respiratory infections. These vaccines are based on protein antigens and are formulated into a multimeric presentation to begin to mimic the appearance of the bacterial pathogen to the host immune system. Picking was born in Lincoln, KS in north central Kansas. After growing up on the farm, she attended the University of Kansas where she received a BA in biochemistry and PhD in molecular genetics. She completed post-doctoral training at University of Texas in Austin and Washington University in St. Louis studying molecular biology and…
Wes Warren
Wesley Warren is a professor of comparative genomics in Department of Animal Sciences, Department of Surgery, Institute for Data Science and Informatics. Dr. Warren is a recognized leader in the field of comparative genomics with a theme of looking at biology with a molecular lens. His scientific journey started with basic animal physiology and has progressed to single cell transcriptome analysis of a broad spectrum of species. Dr. Warren’s research involves the use of whole genome comparative methods to examine genetic adaptation events within existing or newly discovered model organisms as a means to better understand human…
Bing Yang
Bing Yang is the Curators’ Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia and a member and Principal Investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis. He received a PhD degree in plant pathology at Kansas State University.
Scott C. Peck
Scott C. Peck’s research investigates how cells recognize and respond to changes in the environment. The primary foci of his lab are how plants and bacterial pathogens recognize each other, and how plant defense responses and plant nutrition interact with each other to yield a proper biological outcome. In addition, the Peck lab has developed a portfolio of proteomics strategies, primarily related to analyzing changes in plasma membrane protein composition.
David Mendoza
David Mendoza holds a PhD in Biochemistry (2005) and in 2006, he obtained a postdoctoral PEW fellowship to study plant molecular biology at UC San Diego. In 2011, Mendoza joined the Division of Plant Sciences at the University of Missouri and the Bond Life Sciences Center as an assistant professor. Shortly after, he received an NSF CAREER award to study plant nutrition. In 2016, Mendoza was promoted to Associate Professor and his research program has been continuously funded by private and federal agencies, totaling $12 million. In 2025, Mendoza was awarded the MU Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Research and…
Chris Lorson
Christian Lorson, PhD, serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Strategic Initiatives at Mizzou. He is a Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Pathobiology and Integrative Biomedical Sciences, and is Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Veterinary Medicine where he has been a professor since 2010. Lorson serves as the director of the Missouri-wide Spinal Cord Injury/Disease Research Program (SCIDRP), a state-wide program designed to fund translational research focused upon spinal cord injuries and neurological disease. Prior to joining MU as a faculty member, Lorson received a BA from Colorado College…
Marc Johnson
Marc Johnson is a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology (MMI). The Johnson lab studies viral metagenomics through air and water sampling. A primary focus of the lab is to work with public health to develop tools for monitoring the presence of new and emerging pathogens through wastewater surveillance. Through their wastewater surveillance work, the lab also studies ‘cryptic lineages’, which are evolutionarily advanced viral lineages from individual with very long persistent infections that are detected from wastewater. In addition to wastewater, the lab collects air and wastewater samples from diverse sources to establish a more complete picture of…
Walter Gassmann
As Bond LSC’s director, Gassmann works with the Vice Chancellor for Research to develop and implement plans for growth of the MU research enterprise. That includes partnering with academic units to attract research groups to MU and Bond LSC — one of the research centers administered by the Division of Research, Innovation, and Impact (RII). He supervises Bond LSC staff that assist in making all our center’s amazing science possible. He enjoys mentoring junior researchers in his lab, who study the plant innate immune system and the pathogens that attack plants. Gassmann was born in Karachi, Pakistan. He…