Biology News & Events
Seminars & Events
- April 27, 2012: Graduate Program for Neuroscience Distinguished Lecture Series
- April 30, 2012: EBE and Marine Biology Seminar Series
- April 30, 2012: Biomolecular Seminar Series
- May 4, 2012: Biology Faculty Meeting
- May 20, 2012: Biology Commencement
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Click here to download the current Biology Department Newsletter.
For archived newsletters, click here.
Student News
May 14, 2012: Franne Kamhi wins NSF Award
Doctoral student, Franne Kamhi, has won the NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute Award. Franne is in the Graduate Program for Neuroscience and studies with Dr. James Traniello. Congratulations, Franne.
May 14, 2012: Katie Faust Stryjewski wins NSF Grant
Graduate student, Katie Faust Stryjewski, has been awarded the NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant. Katie works in Dr. Mike Sorenson'slab. Congratulations, Katie.
May 14, 2012: Kristina Cohen wins Evolution Research Award
Doctoral student, Kristina Cohen, has won the Society for the Study of Evolution Rosemary Grant Graduate Student Research Award. Kristina works in the Warkentin lab.Congratulations, Kristina.
Faculty News
May 17, 2012: Dr. Mullen's Research featured in Science Daily
Assistant Professor Sean Mullen's genome research featured in Science Daily. Dr. Mullen, has discovered promiscuous sharing of large regions of DNA code among species by sequencing the genome of a South American butterfly. A first for science, the genome sequencing work is the product of an international group of researchers, dubbed the Heliconius Genome Consortium, who examined the genome of the Postman butterfly (Heliconius melpomene), a well-known species that lives in the Peruvian Amazon. Using that data as a guide, they then examined the genetic make-up of two other closely-related butterfly species -- Heliconius timareta and Heliconius elevatus.
Apr 19, 2012: Prof. Primack and Alum Miller-Rushing in NY Times
Prof. Richard Primack and former doctoral student, Dr. Abe Miller-Rushing published an article, "Early Bloomers", in the April 18, 2012 edition of the New York Times. Using the detailed journals of Henry David Thoreau, Drs. Primack and Miller-Rushing were able to chart the trend towards earlier blooms and concluded that spring is indeed arriving earlier than in years past.
Apr 17, 2012: Undergraduate Gordon Towne's research on BU Today.
Undergrad Gordon Towne's UROP-funded research was recently featured on BU Today. Gordon has been working with Dr. Tom Kunz on his project to map the flight patterns of bats. This research is benefitting multiple disciplines including biology, engineering and could lead to the creation of new unmanned military planes. In the article, "Inquiring Minds: Tracking Bats", Gordon discusses how the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) funded his travel to Texas to help Dr. Kunz with this project. Please click on the video below to learn more about Gordon's research.
Alumni News
Apr 19, 2012: Prof. Primack and Alum Miller-Rushing in NY Times
Prof. Richard Primack and former doctoral student, Dr. Abe Miller-Rushing published an article, "Early Bloomers", in the April 18, 2012 edition of the New York Times. Using the detailed journals of Henry David Thoreau, Drs. Primack and Miller-Rushing were able to chart the trend towards earlier blooms and concluded that spring is indeed arriving earlier than in years past.
Feb 08, 2012: Dr. George Mosialos' Research Featured in Lab Times
George Mosialos, who received his PhD with Tom Gilmore in 1993, is currently a Professor at the University of Thessaloniki in his homeland Greece. In spite of dire financial times in that country, Mosialos' research group recently uncovered the molecular basis of a key step in the development of the immune system, specifically related to the role that NF-kB plays in T-cell development. This research was published in the Journal of Immunology (Tsagaratou et al, J Immunol 185: 2032) and was highlighted in an article in Lab Times.
Dec 22, 2010: Dr. Starczynowski wins 2011 Junior Faculty Scholar Award
Dr. Daniel Starczynowski was recently awarded a 2011 Junior Faculty Scholar Award from the American Society of Hematology. Dr. Starczynowski received his PhD with Dr. Tom Gilmore in 2005 and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Division of Experimental Hematology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and in the Department of Cancer and Cell Biology at the University of Cincinnati.
In Memoriam
On January 14, 2008, the Boston University community remembered their friend and colleague, Mary S. Erskine, who died on December 12, 2007, following a long battle with breast cancer. She was 61 years old. Mary was a College of Arts & Sciences Professor of Biology and former director of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). For more information, please read the profile on BU Today.
Our Faculty
Jelle Atema's laboratory focuses on three research areas: chemical ecology of lobsters, navigation in sharks, and dispersal in larval reef fishes.
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Michael Baum's research is aimed at the mechanisms controlling the sexual differentiation and adult display of courtship behaviors in mice.
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Cynthia Bradham's research is focused on understanding secondary (dorsal-ventral) axis specification and patterning in the sea urchin.
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Gloria Callard's research focuses on the biosynthesis and actions of estradiol.
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Ian Callard's research involves the cellular and molecular actions of estrogen and progesterone associated with the evolution of live-bearing (viviparity) from an egg laying (oviparous) mode of reproduction.
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John Celenza's research focuses on plant development, molecular biology, and genetics.
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Geoffrey Cooper's laboratory studies the roles of proto-oncogene proteins in the signal transduction pathways that control proliferation and survival of mammalian cells.
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Vincent Dionne's research examines the cellular mechanisms underlying detection, discrimination, and encoding of sensory information.
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William Eldred's research is studying how the neurons in the retina communicate with one another using biochemical pathways.
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Horacio Frydman's research generally focuses on understanding how microorganisms and their hosts interact at different biological levels (e.g., molecular, cellular, genetic, ecological and evolutionary).
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Tim Gardner's laboratory studies neural circuits and their development, specifically vocal learning in songbirds.
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Thomas Gilmore's research focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which certain genes can transform normal cells into malignant cells, and the normal control of cellular growth by these genes.
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Stjepko Golubic's research concerns the relationship between microorganisms and mineral deposits.
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Ulla Hansen's research involves understanding how regulation of gene expression in mammalian cells controls cell growth and responses to hormones.
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Angela Ho's research concerns the molecular and cellular basis of synaptic function and alzheimer’s disease.
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Hans Kornberg's current research focuses on the metabolic routes by which mutants of E coli, which are devoid of the genes that normally affect utilization of fructose are able to grow on fructose as sole carbon source.
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Thomas Kunz's laboratory focuses on roosting behavior and ecology, physiological ecology, population dynamics, life-history evolution, and conservation biology of temperate and tropical bats.
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Jen-Wei Lin's main research focus is on the biophysical events underlying neurotransmitter release.
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Phillip Lobel is interested in fundamental concepts of fish biology and in applying this knowledge to scientific issues and to societal concerns of fisheries management and conservation.
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Edward Loechler's lab investigates the DNA polymerases involved in mutagenic and non-mutagenic bypass of DNA damage.
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Hengye Man is interested in understanding the cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying AMPAR synaptic localization and synaptic plasticity.
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Kim McCall's laboratory is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of programmed cell death and its role in development.
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Frank Naya's research includes dissecting the in vivo role of the myocyte enhancer factor-2 (MEF2) family of transcription factors in muscle development.
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Richard Primack's lab is investigating the impact of climate change on the flowering times of plants and the spring arrival of birds in Massachusetts, Japan, and South Korea.
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Christopher Schneider's laboratory combines field studies with a variety of molecular genetic and phenotypic analyses to study adaptation, population biology, systematics, biogeography, and speciation of amphibians and reptiles.
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Daniel Segrè develops theoretical approaches and computational models for the study of complex biological networks.
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Cassandra Smith's research brings novel approaches at the interface of genomics/genetic and biotechnology to complex disease studies.
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Michael Sorenson's research emphasizes molecular genetic approaches to problems in avian systematics, population biology, and behavioral ecology.
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John Finnerty studies coastal marine invertebrates in order to answer fundamental questions concerning biodiversity.
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Pamela Templer is interested in ecosystem ecology and the influence that plant-microbial interactions have on nutrient cycling, retention, and loss.
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Dean Tolan is interested in biochemistry, enzymology, molecular and human genetics, evolution, and the developmental biology of aldolases.
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James Traniello studies the ecological factors that have influenced the genetics of colonies and populations, the behavioral mechanisms of cooperation, and the neural basis of social behavior.
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Karen Warkentin's laboratory examines developing organisms in an ecological context.
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David Waxman is interested in molecular endocrinology and cell signaling through transcriptional networks, cancer gene therapy and pharmacology, liver genes and transcriptional control, and orphan receptors and responses to environmental chemicals.
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Eric Widmaier is primarily interested in the molecular and behavioral mechanisms that result in obesity or weight gain in mammals.
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