Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences

Faculty & Research

NAME DESCRIPTORS RESEARCH INTERESTS
William Baldwin CCF cardiac and renal allograft rejection; vascular inflammation
CMB
Cornelia Bergmann CCF regulation of and function of CD8 T cells during viral infections of the central nervous system (CNS) associated with demyelination
CMB
Kathleen L. Berkner CCF homeostasis and the physiology of vitamin K
CMB
Ruchi Bhattacharya CSU

biogeochemistry, paleolimnology, computational geoscience

Meredith Bond CSU cardiovascular pathology
CMB
G. Valentin Boerner CSU molecular genetics: functional analysis of chromosome dynamics
CMB
Tatiana Byzova CCF cell adhesion molecules (integrins) in thrombosis, vascular biology and cancer; vascular endothelial growth factors, angiogenesis, extracellular matrix
CMB
Andrea Corbett CSU plant ecology: plant competition, root-soil dynamics, community ecology, community diversity, secondary succession in old-fields, invasive species, solar tracking in arctic flowers
Margot Damaser CCF urological biomechanics; the nature of maternal birth injuries and the post-injury healing process; application of stem cell technology to facilitate injury recovery
CMB
R. Jeffrey Dean CSU neuroscience: motor control of limb movement & coordination in insects, amphibians, humans and robots; neuroethology: lateral line orientation; cybernetics, neural modeling & artificial neural networks
Rebecca Drenovsky JCU plant-soil interface; resource availability influences on plant physiology and ecological processes; climate change, anthropogenic disturbance; invasive species
OEB, EVS
Donna Driscoll CCF selenoproteins and their unusual mRNA coding and translation; Selenium insufficiency and disease, including atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer
CMB
Ranjan Dutta  CCF multiple sclerosis (MS); differences between relapse-remitting and progressive phases of MS; molecular changes underlying neuronal degeneration in MS and possible therapies
CMB
Thomas Egelhoff CCF cell migration and invasion, with emphasis on understanding the roles and regulation of myosin II; relevance to cancer cell metastasis and wound healing
CMB
Mary Gardiner OSU agricultural landscape ecology; invasive species; entomology; conservation of parasitoids, predators, and pollinators
OEB
Brian Gastman CCF tumor Immunology - induction of suppressor cells and immune evasion; cancer therapy resistance - oncogenes with anti-apoptotic and anti-senescent functions rendering tumors chemotherapy resistant
CMB
Merlin Nithya Gnanapragasam CSU transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of mammalian erythropoiesis, hemoglobin gene switching, anemias such as Congenital Dyserythropoietic Anemias, Sickle Cell Anemia, and Beta Thalassemia, and Erythroleukemias
Zihua Gong LRI DNA repair pathway choice of BRCA1 and BRCA2
Shamone Gore Panter CSU  molecular cardiology, gene expression, cardiovascular genetics and electrophysiology, atrial fibrillation
CMB
Brice Grunert CSU remote sensing, GIS, geospatial datasets, ecosystem processes
Kailash Gulshan CSU cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, autophagy, inflammation, interleukins, sphingolipids
Neetu Gupta CCF molecular mechanisms regulating B cell antigen receptor signaling, B cell proliferation, and fate, Role for ezrin
CMB
Stanley Hazen CCF cell biology: biochemistry of oxidative tissue damage
CMB
Meagan Harless  CSU herpetology; community ecology; ecotoxicology of pollutants in freshwater systems; conservation biology; parasitology in amphibians
Peng Jiang CSU data science, computational biology, bioinformatics, biostatistics, machine learning, gene regulation, developmental & regenerative biology
Trine Joergensen CCF autoimmunity; systemic lupus erythematosus; gender differences; role of interferons in autoimmunity
CMB
Jeffrey P. Johansen JCU botany: ecology and systematics of algae; use of diatoms as water quality indicators; biogeography of terrestrial algae; ecology and rehabilitation of cryptogamic soil crusts
OEB , EVS
Andrew Jones CMNH phylogeography of birds in island and mountain habitats; avian natural history
OEB, EVS
Michael Kalafatis CSU biochemistry of blood coagulation and thrombosis
CMB
Sadashiva Karnik CCF molecular cardiology: molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in blood pressure regulation
CMB
Anton A. Komar CSU molecular biology: translational regulation of gene expression
CMB
Roman Kondratov CSU molecular mechanisms of aging and circadian rhythms
CMB
Robert A. Krebs CSU evolutionary biology: historical changes in freshwater mussel (Unionidae) distributions; models of genetic changes associated with colonization and isolation in refugia; mussel conservation
OEB, EVS
Justin Lathia CCF tumor microenvironment and communication mechanisms used by cancer stem cells
CMB
Bibo Li CSU molecular biology: telomere functions; pathogenesis of Trypanosoma brucei (a protozoan parasite causing sleeping sickness in humans and Nagana in cattle) in relation to telomere function and regulation of surface antigen switching to avoid immune responses
CMB
Xiaoxia Li CCF

immunology: molecular biology of interferon signaling pathways

CMB
Zihan Lin CSU environmental-health nexus, geospatial data science, urban green space
Michelle Longworth CCF mechanism  of DNA organization as it pertains to proper chromosome segregation during cell division as well as the regulation of transcription relevant to development, innate immune signaling and the pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
CMB
Kristen Lukas CMZ study and conservation of African apes focusing on the impact of environmental factors on behavior, the etiology of abnormal behavior, and factors influencing conservation attitudes
Barsanjit Mazumder CSU molecular biology: molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular disease; post-transcriptional regulation of pro-inflammatory gene expression in endothelial cells, monocytes, and macrophages
CMB
Keith McCrae CCF function of blood vessels in health and disease; antiphospholipid syndrome; microparticles--small pieces of cells that circulate in the blood, and promote blood clotting; role of kininogen in regulating vascular functions
CMB
Tom McIntyre CCF uncontrolled oxidation of phospholipids; trafficking of inflammatory cells leading to cardiovascular disease
Ronald J. Midura CCF molecular physiology: analysis of vertebrate biomineralization mechanisms and embryonic skeletogenesis
CMB
Barbara K. Modney CSU neuroscience: specificity of synaptic connections during development and following injury; development of neuronal circuits and behavior
CMB
Christine S. Moravec CCF molecular cardiology: decreased contractility in heart failure: Ca cycling, sarcoplasmic reticulum function, gene expression
CMB
Kevin Mueller CSU global change ecology; biodiversity; biogeochemistry; plant functional traits; land management; urban ecology; environmental pollution; paleoclimate & paleoecology; plant lipids & biomarkers (chemical fossils)  
EVS, GEO
Laura Nagy CCF how chronic alcohol consumption contributes to chronic diseases, such as liver disease and diabetes
CMB
Edward Plow CCF Integrin signaling in leukocyte responses during inflammation and platelet aggregation
CMB
Jun Qin CCF structural biology: relationships between protein structure and function in cellular signal transduction pathways
CMB
Gunnar Poplawski CCF in vitro culturing and in vivo models of neurodegeneration; neuronal rejuvenation; chronic spinal cord injury; inhibiting brain cancer cells from invading different brain areas
Emily Rauschert CSU Plant ecology: population and spatial dynamics, dispersal, species coexistence, biological invasions and biotic homogenization
Ofer Reizes CCF obesity, adipose tissue development and maintenance, syndecans and heparan sulfate proteoglycan
CMB
Andrew Resnick CSU sensory cilia in cellular mechanosensation; optical probes of matter; epithelial cell culture, electrophysiology, microscopy and laser tweezers, microfluidics and analytical modeling; renal and airway epithelial tissue
CMB
Terry L. Robison CMP genetics, reforestation, ecosystem and pest management; influence of disturbances on ecosystem services
OEB, EVS
Tony L. Sahley CSU auditory neurophysiology and neuropharmacology
CMB
Tobili Y. Sam-Yellowe CSU microbiology, immunology, and parasitology: mechanisms of erythrocyte invasion in malaria; role of apical complex organelles in merozoite invasion in Plasmodium falciparum and P. chabaudi
CMB
Dennis Sampson  CSU infectious disease microbiology, plant mating systems, plant stress physiology
OEB
Aaron Severson CSU meiosis, DNA replication, generation of sister chromatid cohesion, homolog pairing, and crossover recombination, and unique pattern of chromosome segregation
CMB
Nima Sharifi CCF metabolic processes, prostate cancer
Girish Shukla CSU molecular biology of RNA: in vivo and in vitro mechanisms of nuclear pre-mRNA splicing, structure-function of small RNAs, understanding the role of miRNAs in prostate cancer, modulation of androgen receptor by miRNAs in prostate cancer
CMB
Robert H. Silverman CCF cancer biology: mechanism of action of interferons, particularly the role of RNase L
CMB
Jonathan D. Smith CCF mechanisms and pathways relevant to human cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis, atrial fibrillation, and HDL metabolism  
CMB
Apollo Stacy CCF how metabolites regulate microbiome-host interactions; oral microbiome; bacterial metabolism; inflammation
George Stark CCF molecular biology: protein and nucleic acid biochemistry, DNA amplification, molecular biology of signal transduction pathways
CMB
Olga Stenina-Adognravi CCF vascular complications of diabetes 
CMB
Dennis Stuehr CCF immunology: biology and biochemistry of nitric oxide, a molecule involved in cell signaling and host defense
CMB
Gavin Svenson CMNH systematics and phylogenetics of the praying mantises (Mantodea)
Wilson Tang CCF mechanistic determinants of cardiovascular disease, particularly in human heart failure and cardiomyopathy
CMB
Jackson Taylor CSU genetic regulation of aging and lifespan
Bruce D Trapp CCF cellular/molecular events involved in glial cell development and myelin formation in the central and peripheral nervous systems (CNS and PNS); pathogenic mechanisms involved in permanent neurological disability in human diseases of myelin such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
CMB
Vincent K. Tuohy CCF cancer vaccines, cancer immunotherapy, primary immunoprevention of breast and ovarian cancer
CMB
John Van Stan CSU environmental science and geography, landscape ecology, wetlands, environmental science & policy
Jacqueline Vitali CSU protein crystallography, specifically biomedically important enzymes
CMB
B. Michael Walton CSU ecological physiology and evolutionary biology: studies of behavioral energetics, whole-organism performance, and the relationship of these variables to growth and survival in natural populations of reptiles and amphibians
OEB, EVS
Crystal M. Weyman CSU cell biology: signaling pathways regulating proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and transformation of skeletal myoblasts
CMB
Jessica Williams CCF, CMB neuroimmunology; autoimmunity; cytokine signaling in glia during multiple sclerosis
Julie A. Wolin CSU environmental science: diatom assemblage analysis applied to current environmental impact studies and to paleolimnological reconstructions
OEB, EVS
Jingqi Yan CSU neuroscience, biophysics, brain function and pathophysiology of autism and metabolic disorders
Fasong Yuan CSU geology and environmental science: geochemical and isotopic tracers to investigate physical processes occurring in lakes and rivers, aqueous and environmental geochemistry to assess anthropogenic disturbances, environmental indicators for modern and ancient aquatic systems
GEO, EVS
Bin Zhang CCF early secretory pathway deficiencies in human diseases such as hemophilia A and cancer
CMB
HOME INSTITUTION   RESEARCH AREA
CSU - Cleveland State University CMB - Cell and Molecular Biology
CCF -  Cleveland Clinic Foundation OEB - Organismal and Evolutionary Biology
CWRU - Case Western Reserve University GEO - Geology
JCU - John Carroll University EVS - Environmental Science
CBG - Cleveland Botanical Garden  
CMP - Cleveland Metroparks  
CMZ - Cleveland Metroparks Zoo  
CMNH - Cleveland Museum of Natural History