First name,Last name,Preferred title,Overview,Position,Department,Individual
Won-Bo,Shim,Professor and Associate Department Head,"Fungal pathogens of cereal crops can cause devastating disruption to the global food supply, and the economic loss due to crop diseases can add up to billions of dollars annually worldwide. The Shim lab at Texas A&M University focused on studying fungal pathogens of field crops, particularly Fusarium species. Notably, hazardous Fusarium mycotoxins pose a significant threat to global food safety and human health. Crop losses as well as the regulatory, testing, and management costs associated with mycotoxins in the US tops $1 billion annually.
The Genus Fusarium has had a great negative impact on agriculture and food safety but also presents a great opportunity for answering many fundamental questions. We are pursuing new discoveries that will ultimately lead to innovative tools for controlling crop diseases and mycotoxin contamination. To broaden the impact, we are actively collaborating with colleagues at Texas A&M as well as other prominent institutions worldwide. We are also very excited about our collaborations with colleagues in Texas A&M Engineering to spearhead multidisciplinary projects that can innovate plant pathology research.",Professor and Associate Department Head,Plant Pathology and Microbiology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n28234bb8
Deborah,Bell-Pedersen,Professor,"Research in the Bell-Pedersen lab focuses on determining how the circadian clock functions in organisms to regulate daily rhythms in gene expression, behavior, and physiology. The molecular clock in higher eukaryotes involves a master clock in the brain regulating clocks in peripheral tissues, posing significant obstacles for understanding circadian output mechanisms. Thus, a major strength of our work is using a single-celled model eukaryote, Neurospora crassa, to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of rhythmic gene expression and protein synthesis. Clock dysfunction in humans is associated with a wide range of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, metabolic disorders, mental illness, sleep disorders, and aging. In addition, daily changes in metabolism and cell division rates influence the efficacy and toxicity of many pharmaceuticals, including cancer drugs. Therefore, knowing how clocks work to control rhythmic gene expression, and what they regulate, is critical for the development of therapeutics. Research to understand clock-controlled rhythmic gene expression has focused primarily on transcriptional mechanisms, and little was known about posttranscriptional control. We discovered that the clock regulates highly conserved translation initiation and elongation factors, tRNA synthetase levels, and ribosome heterogeneity. This regulation determines what mRNAs are rhythmically translated and the accuracy of the translation process (translation fidelity). We are capitalizing on these exciting discoveries to determine how the clock regulates translation fidelity. These studies will provide the foundation for understanding the impact of daily rhythms in translation fidelity on protein diversity beyond what is encoded for in the genome.",Professor and Associate Department Head,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n2a2bfb97
Karen,Russell,Professor and Associate Department Head,"Platelet pathophysiology and the interaction of platelets with infectious agents, with an emphasis on the thrombocytopenia associated with Equine Infectious Anemia Virus. Investigation of platelet activation markers in veterinary species. Investigation of total and free (ionized) magnesium concentrations in veterinary species.",Professor and Associate Department Head,Veterinary Pathobiology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n51e42f58
David,Peterson,Professor and Associate Department Head,"We are interested in the molecular mechanisms of transcriptional regulation in mammalian cells. Many of our experiments have focused on the transcription of the proviral genome of the retrovirus mouse mammary tumor virus, which is subject to both positive and negative control. A number of cellular proteins that are important for viral transcription have been identified, and we would like to define the precise roles of these proteins in establishing correct levels of viral gene expression. We are also exploring some specific questions related to the general mechanism of transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II and the biochemical details of transcriptional regulation. In particular, we are developing assays to directly assess effects of transcriptional regulatory proteins on discrete steps in the initiation process, including transcription complex assembly, separation of the two strands of template DNA at the initiation site, and promoter clearance by the polymerase as it begins RNA synthesis.",Professor and Associate Department Head,Biochemistry and Biophysics,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n8186cf95
Karen,Snowden,Professor and Associate Department Head,"Parasites of public health importance, host-parasite interactions, development of animal models for the study of parasitologic diseases and treatments, and development of molecular and immunologic methods for parasitologic diagnosis.",Professor and Associate Department Head,Veterinary Pathobiology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/naab1ec85
Pete,Teel,Regents Professor,"Biology, ecology and management of ticks associated with humans, livestock, wildlife and companion animals.",Professor and Associate Department Head,Entomology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nc6ba6feb
Zivko,Nikolov,Professor and Associate Department Head,"Nikolov's Bioseparations Lab conducts transformative research in bioprocess engineering aimed at the development of novel and cost-effective strategies for extraction and purification of recombinant and native biomolecules. Bioseparations Lab leverages scientific and engineering expertise of lab members to find solutions for a variety of bioprocessing and separations challenges that currently face plant and algal biotechnology. To guide early process development and identify constraints posed by biological system and final product lab members use process simulation. Past and current research projects directed by Dr. Nikolov include industrial protein products derived from rice, sugarcane, tobacco, Lemna minor, and microalgae.",Faculty Affiliate||Professor and Associate Department Head,Biological and Agricultural Engineering||Energy Institute,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nf84893f5