Genetics
Graduate Program Faculty
Alphabetical Listing
A - M
Art Alberts (VARI), PhD., University of California-San Diego. Role of small GTPases and their effectors in actin and microtubule organization; breast cancer. art.alberts@vai.org
Richard Allison (Plant Biology), PhD., North Carolina State. Molecular biology of plant viruses; virus-host specificity; RNA recombination. allison@msu.edu
Andrea Amalfitano (Microbiology), PhD.,MSU. Applications and limitations of gene transfer technologies for use in treatment of acquired or genetically based human diseases. amalfit1@msu.edu
David Arnosti (Biochemistry), PhD.,Berkeley. Eukaryotic transcriptional regulation, developmental genetics in Drosophila melanogaster. arnosti@msu.edu
Cindy Arvidson (Microbiology), PhD., UCLA. Bacteriology; protein targeting, virulence, and regulation of gene expression in the pathogenic Neisseriae. arvidso3@msu.edu
Michael Bagdasarian (Microbiology), M.D., PhD., Medical Academy (Warsaw). Secretion of proteins in bacteria; pathogenesis; vaccines. bagdasa3@msu.edu
Christoph Benning (Biochemistry), PhD, MSU. Biosynthesis and function of membrane lipids in photosynthetic organisms; molecular and biochemical genetics of Arabidopsis and photosynthetic bacteria. benning@.msu.edu
Helmut Bertrand (Microbiology), PhD, Kansas State. Genetics of the biogenesis and function of mitochondria in fungi. mhelmut@msu.edu
Robert Britton (Microbiology and Molecular Genetics), PhD., Baylor. Genomics of Bacillus subtilis, genomics of probiotic/pathogen interactions, genomics of prokaryotic chromatin remodeling factors, gene expression mechanisms in Lactobacillus sp. rbritton@msu.edu
Zachary Burton (Biochemistry), PhD., UCLA. RNA polymerase II-associated proteins; transcription factor IIF. burton@msu.edu
Wendy Champness (Microbiology), PhD., Michigan State. Developmental genetics of sporulation and antibiotic production in Streptomyces. champnes@msu.edu
Christina Chan (Chemical Engineering & Material Science) PhD, University of Pennsylvania. Apply system biology approaches to reconstruct signaling and gene regulatory pathways to help elucidate disease mechanisms and identify pharmaceutical targets krischan@msu.edu
Chia-Cheng Chang (Pediatrics and Human Develop), PhD., Missouri. Molecular and cellular mechanisms of breast carcinogenesis. changcc@msu.edu
Hans Cheng (USDA Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory), PhD. University of California at Berkley. Structural and functional genomics of disease resistance in chicken. hcheng@msu.edu
Jose Cibelli (Animal Science), PhD, University of Massachusetts. Developmental Biology, nuclear transfer cloning, primate embryonic stem cells. cibelli@msu.edu
Todd Ciche (Microbiology and Molecular Genetics), PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Applied molecular genetics and genomics to identify and characterize genes and processes involved in the symbiosis between the insect pathogenic nematode, /Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, /and the enteric bacterium, /Photorhabdus/ /luminescens/, in addition to the parasitic interactions of these organisms to model insects. ciche@msu.edu
Jeffrey Conner (Plant Biology), PhD, Cornell. Plant/pollinator interactions; evolutionary ecology; ecological genetics. conner@kbs.msu.edu
Susan E. Conrad (Microbiology), PhD, Caltech. Control of proliferation in normal & transformed cells; estrogen regulation of human breast cancer cell proliferation. conrad@msu.edu
Dean Della Penna (Biochemistry), PhD, UC, Davis. Plant biochemistry, especially relating to phytochemicals of importance to human nutrition, and structural and functional aspects of the plant cell wall. dellapen@msu.edu
Jerry Dodgson (Microbiology and Biochemistry), PhD., Wisconsin. Chicken genome mapping and transgenic poultry. dodgson@msu.edu
Ke
Dong (Entomology), PhD., Cornell, Molecular genetics, electrophysiology,
and pharmacologyof insect voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels; molecular
mechanisms of insecticide resistance. dongk@msu.edu
Brian Epperson
(Forestry), PhD., California-Davis, Theoretical population genetics, plant
genetics, spatial statistics. bryan@msu.edu
Catherine Ernst (Animal Science), PhD., Ohio State, Livestock structural and functional genomics; pig development genetics. ernstc@msu.edu
Walter Esselman (Microbiology), PhD., Pennsylvania State, Expression and function of protein tyrosine phosphatases and kinases in the regulation of signaling and transformation in T lymphocytes. esselman@msu.edu
Susan Ewart (Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Animal Science), D.V.M., Michigan State University, PhD., Johns Hopkins University. Genetic susceptibility to asthma and other allergic diseases; equine genetics. ewart@cvm.msu.edu
Rachel Fisher (Pediatrics & Human Development), PhD., London. Prenatal screening for birth defects and prematurity; etiology of Down Syndrome; genetics of hearing loss. fisherr@msu.edu
David R. Foran (Foresnic Biology), PhD., University of Michigan. DNA isolation and profiling from forensic samples, technique development, forensic casework. foran@msu.edu
Michele Fluck (Microbiology), PhD., Geneva. Neoplastic transformation of polyomavirus; control of viral- and host-DNA replication by the viral oncogene; mammary gland oncogenesis. fluck@msu.edu
Karen Friderici (Microbiology, Pediatrics and Human Development), PhD., Michigan State. Molecular pathology of human genetic disease; genetics of hearing loss. frideric@msu.edu
Dennis W. Fulbright (Plant Pathology), PhD., California, Riverside. Genetics of plant pathogens; pathogens attenuation and hypovirulence. fulbrig1@msu.edu
John Fyfe (Microbiology and Small Animal Clinical Science), D.V.M., Washington State; PhD., Pennsylvania. Animal models of inherited metabolic disease; molecular pathology. fyfe@msu.edu
Michael Garavito (Biochemistry), PhD., Purdue University. Structure of membrane proteins involved in organelle biogenesis and division; protein crystallography. garavito@msu.edu
Jim Geiger (Chemistry), PhD., Princeton. Structural biology: structure and regulation of transcription inititation in eukaryotes; structural biology of starch synthesis and inositol synthesis. geiger@cem.msu.edu
Rebecca Grumet (Horticulture), PhD., Michigan State. Molecular genetics of plant disease resistance. grumet@msu.edu
Kyung-Hwan Han (Forestry), PhD., Michigan State. Metabolic engineering of plant species; genomics of secondary growth. hanky@msu.edu
James F. Hancock (Horticulture), PhD., California, Davis. Evolutionary and physiological consequences of polyploidy in plants; evolution of mating systems. hancock@msu.edu
Patrick Hart (Plant Pathology), PhD., California, Riverside. Action of fungal toxins in plant pathogenesis. hart1@msu.edu
Sandra Haslam (Physiology), PhD., California, Berkeley. Role of epithelial-stromal cell interactions and tissue microenvironment in normal and cancerous breast development and growth regulation. shaslam@msu.edu
Sheng Yang He (Plant Biology), PhD., Cornell. Molecular interactions between plants and pathogenic bacteria. hes@msu.edu
R. William Henry (Biochemistry), PhD., Alberta. Transcription of human small nuclear (sn) RNA genes as a model system to understand mechanisms of transcription and regulation of gene expression. henryrw@msu.edu
Gregg Howe (Biochemistry), PhD, University of California at Los Angeles. Molecular genetics of plant-insect interactions; regulation of plant defense responses. howeg@msu.edu
Jianping Hu (Plant Biology), PhD, University of Georgia. Genetic analysis of peroxisome functions and the crosstalk between peroxisomes and other organelles in Arabidopsis. huji@msu.edu
Marianne Huebner (Statistics and Probability), PhD. University of Southern California. Host-parasite systems in mathematical ecology; statistical issues in data analysis of microarray experiments; genetic association for complex traits; gene regulatory networks. huebner@stt.msu.edu
Ning Jiang (Horticulture), PhD., University of Georgia. The relationship of transposable elements and their host organisms; how transposable elements shaped their host genomes while amplifying themselves. jiangn@msu.edu
Donald Jump (Physiology), PhD., Georgetown. Molecular endocrinology; hormonal and nutrient control of gene expression in liver and adipose tissue. jump@msu.edu
Jon Kaguni (Biochemistry), PhD., UCLA. Mechanisms of DNA replication and its regulation in Escherichia coli. kaguni@msu.edu
Laurie Kaguni (Biochemistry), PhD., UCLA. Mechanisms of eukaryotic DNA replication; organization and structure of chromosomal DNA replication origins; regulation of DNA synthesis during Drosophila development. lskaguni@msu.edu
Kenneth Keegstra (Plant Biology), PhD., Colorado. Chloroplast protein targeting; polysaccharides biosynthesis. keegstra@msu.edu
Hans Kende (Plant Biology), PhD., Zurich. Physiology; biosynthesis and action mechanism of plant growth hormones. hkende@msu.edu
Will Kopachik (Zoology), PhD., Princeton. Gene expression in prostate development. kopachik@msu.edu
Donna Koslowsky (Microbiology), PhD., Washington (Seattle). RNA editing; organelle gene expression in trypanosomes. koslowsk@msu.edu
Michael Kron (Pathology), M.D., Northwestern. Structure and function of parasite amino acyl-tRNA synthetases. kron@msu.edu
Lee Kroos (Biochemistry and Microbiology), PhD., Stanford. Gene expression during prokaryotic development. kroos@msu.edu
Leslie Kuhn (Biochemistry and Molecular biology), PhD., Univ. of Pennsylvania. Developing computational approaches for protein folding, ligand interactions, and design. kuhn@sol.bch.msu.edu
Min-Hao Kuo (Biochemistry), PD., Univ. of Rochester. Mechanism of gene regulation via modifications of chromatin: cell cycle regulation of histone modifications in yest S. cerevisiae. kuom@msu.edu
John J. LaPres (Biochemistry, and Food Safety and Toxicology), PhD., Northwestern. Molecular pharmacology and toxicogenomics of the PAS family of transcription factors. lapres@msu.edu
Robert Larkin (Plant Biology), PhD., University of Missouri. Regulation of chlorophyll biosynthesis, influence of chloroplast development on nuclear gene expression, plastid signaling pathways that regulate nuclear gene expression. larkinr@msu.edu
Robert Last (Biochemistry), PhD., Carnegie-Mellon. Arabidopsis functional genomics; regulation of plant metabolic pathways for nutritionally important molecules; plant stress tolerance mechanisms; metabolic engineering of plants. lastr@msu.edu
Richard Lenski (Crop and Soil Science, Microbiology, and Zoology), PhD., North Carolina. Genetics of evolving populations of bacteria. lenski@msu.edu
Veronica Maher (Biochemistry and Microbiology), PhD., Wisconsin. Molecular and cellular mechanisms of mutagenesis in human cells; DNA repair; chemical- and radiation-induced mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. maher@msu.edu
Linda Mansfield (Large Animal Clinical Sciences and Microbiology), V.M.D., PhD., University of Pennsylvania. Development of swine model to examine the pathogenesis of and the mucosal immune response to Campylobacter jejuni. mansfie4@cvm.msu.edu
Laura McCabe (Physiology), PhD., University of Chicago. Molecular mechanisms of bone loss under unloading conditions (disuse, spaceflight) and in disease (diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer). mccabel@msu.edu
J. Justin McCormick (Biochemistry and Microbiology), PhD., Catholic University. Molecular/cellular mechanisms of malignant transformation of human cells; chemical- and radiation-induced oncogene carcinogenesis/mutagenesis. mccormi1@com.msu.edu
Katheryn Meek (Veterinary Pathology), D.V.M., Texas A&M University. V(D)J recombination; DNA double strand break repair B lymphocyte development. kmeek@msu.edu
Richard J. Miksicek (Physiology), PhD., University of Minnesota, Breast cancer and normal mammary gland biology, emphasizing the role of steroid hormones and their receptors in gene expression and cell growth. miksicek@msu.edu
Cindy Miranti (VARI), PhD., Harvard Medical School. Integrins and cell adhesion, signal transduction, and growth factor receptors in meastatic melanoma and prostate turmorigenesis. cindy.miranti@vai.org
Beronda Montgomery-Kaguri (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), PhD., University of California-Davis, Molecular basis of organ-specific phytochrome responses in higher plants; Light-regulated development in cyanobacteria. montg133@msu.edu
Martha Mulks (Microbiology), PhD., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Genetics and virulence factors of pathogenic bacteria. mulks@msu.edu