People
Charles Anderson
Chair, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Plant Biology; Co-Director, Center for Biorenewables; Professor of Biology
In vivo imaging of plant cell wall dynamics. Molecular genetic analysis of genes involved in cell growth. Cell wall biosynthesis in dividing cells. Cell wall engineering for sustainable bioenergy production.
Marco Archetti
Associate Professor of Biology
Evolutionary Genetics. Cancer dynamics. Defective interfering viruses. Evolutionary game theory.
Sally Assmann
Waller Professor of Biology
Molecular biology of plant G-proteins and kinases. Phytohormone regulation of signal transduction and RNA processing. Second messenger regulation of ion channels in plant cells.
Lu Bai
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Professor of Physics
Single cell / single molecule study of chromatin and gene regulation.
Andrew Belmonte
Director of the Center for Mathematical Biology; Professor of Mathematics and Materials Science and Engineering
Game theory and its applications in cancer research.
Douglas Cavener
Huck Distinguished Chair in Evolutionary Genetics; Professor of Biology; Former Dean, Eberly College of Science
Regulation of protein synthesis and control of translation initiation of mRNAs in higher eukaryotes and the evolution of tissue specific transcriptional regulation.
Manyu Du
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
How transcription machineries and regulatory DNA elements organize in 3D in the nucleus to regulate gene expression.
Marina Feric
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Biomolecular engineering of cellular organization. Biophysical mechanisms underlying biomolecular condensates in health and disease.
Ying Gu
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Mechanism of cellulose biosynthesis in higher plants. Genetic modification of plant cell wall to scale-up biofuel production.
William Hancock
Professor of Bioengineering
The detailed workings of motor proteins and their role in intracellular transport and cell motility.
Wendy Hanna-Rose
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Head of BMB
Molecular Genetics of Metabolism and Development in C. elegans
Timothy Jegla
Emphasis Area Representative, Molecular and Evolutionary Genetics; Associate Professor of Biology
Functional evolution of eukaryotic ion channels and evolution of neuronal signaling and cell structure.
Parisa Kalantari
Assistant Professor of Immunology
Host-parasite interactions using Schistosoma mansoni-induced liver inflammation in mouse models. Modulation of immune responses by the parasite as well as the role of inflammasomes in inducing schistosomiasis.
Jeremiah Keyes
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and of Biology, Penn State Behrend
The complex signaling networks that control cell responses to stimuli.
Zhi-Chun Lai
Emphasis Area Representative, Cell and Developmental Biology; Professor of Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Signal Transduction, Growth Control, and Cancer Genetics
Aimin Liu
Associate Professor of Biology
Biogenesis and function of cilia in mammalian embryonic development.
Bernhard Luscher
Emeritus Professor of Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Function of GABAergic synaptic transmission in health and disease, with emphasis of stress based psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorders and mechanisms of antidepressant drug action
Yingwei Mao
Professor of Biology
Regulation of neurogenesis using cellular and mouse models; analysis of abnormal neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation and its relationship to mental illnesses; identification of drugs that can reverse mouse models of psychiatric disorders.
Melanie McReynolds
Huck Early Career Chair in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The biochemistry behind aging and its intersection with stress, with the long-term goal of identifying strategies that promote healthier aging.
Gabriele Monshausen
Associate Professor of Biology
Plant cell signaling. Hormonal and mechanical signal transduction in plant growth regulation. Live cell imaging of subcellular microdomains of ionic signaling.