Archive
Erin Sparks
Research Interests Erin Sparks’ research uses interdisciplinary and multi-scale approaches to optimize plant resilience under abiotic and biotic stressors, for example, by applying a unique blend of principles of mechanical engineering and the genetics of root development.
David Mendoza
Research Interests The Mendoza lab focuses on the identification of the molecular mechanisms mediating nutrient sensing and allocation in plants, particularly nutrient elements that are required for photosynthesis, such as iron, copper, and zinc.
Scott C. Peck
Research Interests Bacterial pathogens spend the majority of their lives in the soil competing with other microbes for nutrients. However, when they chemically recognize the presence of a potential plant host, the bacteria activate a virulence program to suppress plant immunity. Conversely, plants only activate defense responses when they recognize the presence of the potential pathogens. By studying these interrelated chemical recognition processes, the Peck lab has discovered the chemical signals utilized by bacteria to activate their virulence programs, and we have isolated mutants that fail to secrete these signals, rendering the plants more resistant to infection. We are…
Marc Libault
Research Interests Plant cells differentially use their genetic information to gain their specific function. Libault has a long-term interest in understanding the differential use of the genome between plant cells and its dynamic regulation during plant development and in response to environmental stresses. Gaining this information is essential to understand gene function and the regulation of their expression, and, therefore, to implement well-sounded synthetic biology strategies to enhance desirable crop traits. …
Susie Dai
Research Interests The Dai lab integrates chemistry and biology to advance biosynthesis, bioremediation, and resource recovery. Current research focuses on: Integrate chemical catalysis (i.e., electrocatalysis) with synthetic biology to produce platform chemicals Develop chem/bio hybrid materials to empower microbiology for pollutant removal and resource recovery…
Lloyd W. Sumner
Research Interests Dr. Sumner’s research is focused on the development, integration and application of large-scale biochemical profiling of plant metabolites, proteins, and transcripts (metabolomics, proteomics and transcriptomics) for the discovery and characterization of the molecular and biochemical components related to the biosynthesis of plant natural products/specialized metabolites. He also actively applies these integrated omics technologies in a collaborative manner for greater insight into health and disease in a large number of species, including humans. A current focal area is cancer. Dr. Sumner has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles/book chapters and has an h-index of 74. The Sumner lab is highly…
Gary A. Weisman
Research Interests The Weisman laboratory studies the initiation of chronic inflammatory disorders such as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and they have found that blocking cell receptors that recognize the release of the molecule ATP from damaged cells prevents chronic inflammation which preserves tissue function. In mouse models of autoimmune Sjogren’s disease, they have demonstrated that inhibiting these ATP receptors prevents chronic immune cell activation in salivary and lacrimal gland to enhance saliva and tear secretion, respectively. Recently, they demonstrated that blocking the ATP receptors also retards tumor growth in mice, and they are now testing whether these approaches…
Dong Xu
Research Interests Dr. Xu’s lab focuses on the interface between bioinformatics and deep learning. It works on development of novel computational methods, algorithms, software and information systems, as well as on broad applications of these tools and other informatics resources for various biological and medical problems. Several successful applications of deep learning by the lab in bioinformatics span areas such as single-cell data analysis, protein structure prediction, protein language models, protein localization prediction, predicting sites of protein post-translational modifications, elucidating genotype-phenotype associations, understanding biological pathways through image analysis in published literature, and analyzing tongue images for health evaluations.
Trupti Joshi
Research Interests The Joshi lab has expertise in the areas of bioinformatics and its application to biomedical sciences, plants sciences, animal sciences, and health informatics fields. The lab has three key research pillars: Multiomics Informatics Data Analytics and Framework Development Multiomics Informatics Method Development Multiomics Data Integration Tool Development…
William and Wendy Picking
Research Interests Vaccines are perhaps the greatest public health achievement of our lifetime. They have prevented millions of deaths from childhood and adult diseases to the point that some pathogens have almost been eradicated. Unfortunately, there is much work that still needs to be done to develop more vaccines that can be delivered intranasally and thus prevent some of the vaccine hesitancy exhibited throughout the world. Furthermore, many vaccines can be formulated to be therapeutic and can thus treat a person and vaccinate in one motion, which aids in compliance to the vaccine schedule. The Picking lab aims to…