First name,Last name,Preferred title,Overview,Position,Department,Individual
Virender,Sharma,Professor,"My research focuses on (1) chemistry and application of ferrates, (2) formation, fate, and toxicity of silver and gold engineered and natural nanoparticles in aquatic environment, (3) applications of ferrites to destroy toxins and pollutants under solar light, and apply carbon-based materials to remediate contaminated water",Faculty Affiliate||Professor,Energy Institute||Environmental and Occupational Health,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n28508dfb
Jian,Feng,Professor and Assistant Dean,,Assistant Dean for Research and Professor,Biomedical Sciences,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n2b3403fd
Douglas,Baxter,Instructional Professor,,Instructional Professor,Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n3e6ac00a
Joseph,Szule,Research Assistant Professor,,Research Assistant Professor,Veterinary Pathobiology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n43b79a10
Thomas,Diekwisch,Professor and Department Head,"Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering In previous studies we have generated and characterized stem cell populations in dental tissues. We have also developed novel extracellular matrix-based scaffold materials. Currently we are performing a number of studies to examine the use of stem cells and scaffolds to regenerate periodontal and other tissues.
Chromatin, Epigenetics, and microRNAs Twenty years ago, we discovered the cp27 chromatin factor in our laboratory. This factor is part of the large SRCAP chromatin complex that plays important roles in development and cell division. A second aspect of our epigenetics research is focused on the role of histone methylation in odontogenic tissue differentiation and disease.
Periodontics Our lab works on the development and differentiation of periodontal tissues as a means to generate new progenitor based approaches for the regeneration of periodontal tissues. More recently, we have conducted studies to understand how epigenetic changes affect periodontal tissue response to pathogens.
Enamel Formation and Evolution Our lab is interested in determining the mechanisms of enamel crystal formation. We are asking how mineral ions are transported toward the enamel layer and what factors govern the nucleation and elongation of enamel crystals. Using an evolutionary biology approach, we are studying the relationship between the amelogenin molecule and enamel mechanical properties.
Evolution and Development Our lab focuses on the evolution of jaws and teeth, especially tooth enamel and periodontal ligament. Specifically, we are interested in the effects of changes in the amelogenin protein on the evolution of the amazing physical properties of enamel. We are also trying to understand how the non-mineralized state of the periodontal ligament evolved in vertebrates.","Director, Center for Craniofacial Research and Diagnosis||Bernhard Gottlieb Endowed Chair for Craniofacial Research||Professor and Head, Department of Periodontics",School of Dentistry||School of Dentistry||School of Dentistry,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n52565fe6
Laura,Jurgens,Assistant Professor,"I study community and ecosystem resilience in coastal oceans and estuaries.My lab works to uncover key processes and interactions that maintain biodiversity and the function of coastal marine ecosystems in the face of multiple stressors. These include increasing climate variability, extreme events, reductions in important species like predators and habitat-formers, and species invasions. Our focus on extreme event ecology includes effects of major storms, heat waves, low-oxygen events, harmful algal blooms, and diseases. We use field and lab experiments, environmental and biodiversity monitoring, data synthesis and theory to investigate these processes in a variety of marine ecosystems, urban and remote, intertidal and subtidal, temperate and tropical. We also help build the science needed to support sustainable invertebrate fisheries. We're especially interested in helping small-scale and traditional fisheries weather the increasing uncertainty of global change.",Assistant Professor,Marine Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n70f0f1e7
Marie,Strader,Assistant Professor,,Assistant Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n75d85f06
Terry,Thomas,Professor,"My interests are evolutionarily broad and include animals, plants and fungi. A major focus of the lab is the genomic analysis of gene expression programs during plant gene expression programs, particularly during embryogenesis and seed development, and the underlying regulatory mechanisms required for the initiation and maintenance of these programs. This work has illustrated the combinatorial interactions of cis and trans -acting factors that result in specific gene regulatory events. We are also using genomics tools to study the interaction of the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe grisea , with plant hosts; the circadian control of gene expression; and the development of the vertebrate retina. An additional focal area is the utilization of molecular and cellular approaches for crop improvement. As part of these research activities, we have developed or adapted high throughput genomics approaches to accelerate the gene discovery process and subsequent analysis of gene expression and function.",Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n79201ac5
Leslie,Winemiller,Senior Lecturer,,Senior Lecturer,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/ndfcdb36f
Ryland,Young,Professor,"Most bacterial viruses (phages) cause lysis of their host cell to release the progeny virions. Large phages elaborate an enzyme (""endolysin"") to degrade the cell wall and also a small membrane protein (""holin""). The holin accumulates in the membrane and then, at a precisely scheduled time, suddenly forms a hole to allow release of endolysin through the cytoplasmic membrane to gain access to the wall. We use molecular genetics and biochemistry to study how this small protein is able to act as a molecular ""clock"" and punch holes in membranes. Small phages make single proteins which cause host lysis in a different way. This strategy is to target the host cell wall synthesis machinery; that is, the virus makes a ""protein antibiotic"" that causes lysis in the same way as antibiotics like penicillin by inhibiting an enzyme in the multi-step pathway of murein biosynthesis. Thus, when the infected cell tries to divide, it blows up, or lyses, because it can't make the new cell wall between the daughter cells. Remarkably, each of three different, small phages blocks a different step in the pathway. These small lysis proteins are models for a completely new class of antibacterial antibiotics. Also, the E. coli SlyD protein is required for this mode of lysis in one case. SlyD is a member of an ubiquitous family of proteins related to human ""immunophilins,"" the targets of immune-suppression drugs. We study SlyD to learn about the role of this class of proteins in biology.",Professor,Biochemistry and Biophysics,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nea775348
Paul,Hardin,Distinguished Professor,"A diverse array of organisms including prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes, plants, and animals display daily rhythms in physiology, metabolism and/or behavior. These rhythms are not passively driven by environmental cycles of light and temperature, but are actively controlled by endogenous circadian clocks that are set by environmental cycles, keep time in the absence of environmental cues, and activate overt physiological, metabolic and behavioral rhythms at the appropriate time of day. This remarkable conservation of circadian clock function through evolution suggests that maintaining synchrony with the environment is of fundamental importance. Our understanding of the circadian clock is particularly important for human health and well-being. The clearest examples of circadian clock dysfunction are those that result in abnormal sleep-wake cycles, but clock disturbances are also associated with other ailments including epilepsy, cerebrovascular disease, depression, and seasonal affective disorder. The realization that disorders of the sleep-wake cycle such as Familial Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome can result from alterations in clock gene function underscores the clinical importance of understanding the molecular organization of the circadian system.
Work in my laboratory focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms that drive circadian clock function in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We previously found that the core timekeeping mechanism is based on core and interlocked transcriptional feedback loops. Our studies currently focus on (1) defining post-translational regulatory mechanisms that operate in the core loop to set the 24 hour period, (2) determining whether interlocked loops are important for circadian timekeeping and/or output, (3) understanding how circadian oscillator cells are determined during development, and (4) defining mechanisms that control rhythms in olfactory and gustatory physiology and behavior.",Distinguished Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nf27056c4