Robert S. Aronstam, Ph.D.

Professor
Chair, Department of Biological Sciences
Director, Missouri S&T cDNA Resource Center
Director, Laboratory of Neurobiology

Research Interests

Neurochemical, pharmacological and toxicological characterization of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors

G Protein Coupled Receptors signaling pathways: second messenger production, calcium imaging, altered gene expression, posttranslational receptor processing

Influence of oxdative stress and nanoparticles on synaptic signal transduction process

Education

Columbia College of Columbia University, New York, B.A., 1972

University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, Ph.D., Neuroscience, 1978

Representative Publications

R.S. Aronstam and H.L. Puhl, Muscarinic receptors: Autonomic neurons, In: Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (G. Adelman and B Smith, eds.), CD-ROM, Elsevier Press, Amsterdam, 2008 (Fourth Edition)

Shi, R., C.-C. Huang, R.S. Aronstam, N. Ercal, A. Martin and Y-W. Huang, N-acetylcystenine amide decreases oxidative stress but not cell death induced by doxorubicin in H9c2 cardiomyocytes, BMC Pharmacology 9:7, 2009. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2210/9/7

Wang, H.-J, T.-H. Tang, A.C. Growcock, J. O’Hara, , A. Martin, Y.-W. Huang and R.S. Aronstam, ZnO Nanoparticle Inhibition Muscarinic Receptor Ligand Binding and Activation of Store-operated calcium entry, Toxicology In Vitro 24:1953-1961, 2010.

Huang, Y-W, C.-H. Wu and R.S. Aronstam, Toxicity of transition metal oxide nanoparticles: Recent Insights from In Vitro Studies, Materials 3(10) 4842-4859, 2010.

Liu, B.R., J.-F. Li, S.-W. Lu, H.-J. Lee Y.-W. Huang, K. B. Shannon and R.S. Aronstam, Cellular internalization of quantum dots noncovalently conjugated with arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptides, J. Nanosci. Nanotech. 10:1-10, 2010.

Courses Taught

General Biology (BIO 110), Cellular Biology (BIO 211), Neurobiology (BIO 382), Pharmacology (BIO 384), Senior Seminar (Bio 310)

Personal Websites

http://www.cdna.org

http://web.mst.edu/~aronstam

Roger F. Brown, Ph.D.

Chancellors Professor
Director, Missouri S&T Animal Research Facility
Director, Biomaterials Laboratory

Research Interests

Biomaterials for bone repair and therapeutic applications

Development of bioactive glass coatings on titanium implants for enhanced bonding at implant site

Porous bioactive glass scaffolds for in vitro engineering of new bone tissue

Bioabsorbable composite materials for bone fracture fixation

Neutron-activatable glass microspheres for radiotherapeutic applications

Education

Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, B.S. Zoology, 1964

Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Ph.D., Physiology, 1968

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Postdoctoral training, 1968-71

Representative Publications

D.E Day, J. E. White, R.F. Brown and K.D McMenamin, "Transformation of borate glasses into biologically useful materials," Glass Technol.44(2): 75-81, 2003

S. Conzone, R. Brown, D. Day, and G. Ehrhardt, "In vitro and in vivo dissolution behavior of a dysprosium lithium borate glass designed for the radiation synovectomy treatment of rheumatoid arthritis," J. Biomed Mat. Res. 60: 260-268, 2002

Courses Taught

Human Anatomy (BIO 241), Human Physiology Lecture (BIO 242) and Lab (BIO 243), Biomaterials (BIO 340), Exercise Physiology (BIO 342), Tissue Engineering (BIO 401)

Website

http://web.mst.edu/~rbrown

Ronald L Frank, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Director, Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics

Research Interests

Identification of gene families using computer algorithms

Evolution and expression of gene families in plants

Structure and expression of phenylalanine ammonia lyase genes in soybean

Education

Houghton College, Houghton, New York, B.S. in Biology, 1978

Ohio State University, Columbus, M.S. in Genetics, 1981

Ohio State University, Columbus, Ph.D. in Genetics, 1985

Representative Publications

Lee L, Leopold JL, Kandoth C, Frank RL. 2010. Protein secondary structure prediction using RT-RICO: a rule-based approach. Open Bioinformatics J., 4:17-30.

Kandoth C, Ercal F, and Frank RL. 2010. A framework for automated enrichment of functionally significant inverted repeats in whole genomes. BMC Bioinformatics 11(Suppl 6):S20.

Lee L, Kandoth C, Leopold JL, Frank RL. 2010. Protein secondary structure prediction using parallelized rule induction from coverings. Int. J. Medicine and Medical Sci., 1(2):99-105.

Lee L, Leopold JL, Frank RL, Maglia AM. 2009. Protein Secondary Structure Prediction Using Rule Induction from Coverings. Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology 2009, 79-86.

Kandoth C, Frank RL, and Ercal F. 2008 Automation of an NSP-based (negative selection pattern) gene family identification strategy. In: Intelligent Engineering Systems Through Artificial Neural Networks. Vol. 18. (CH Dagli, DL Enke, KM Bryden, H Ceylan, M Gen, eds). ASME Press, Three Park Ave., New York, NY. 319-326.

Frank RL, Kandoth C, and Ercal F. 2008. Validation of an NSP-based (negative selection pattern) gene family identification strategy. BMC Bioinformatics 9(Suppl 9):S2.

Xu R, Wunsch DC, Frank RL. 2007. Inference of genetic regulatory networks with recurrent neural network models using particle swarm optimization. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, 4(4):681-692.

Frank RL, Mane A, Ercal F. 2006. An automated method for rapid identification of putative gene family members in plants. BMC Bioinformatics 7(Suppl 2):S19.

Courses Taught

General Genetics (BIO 231), Evolution (BIO 235), Genomics (BIO 301), Molecular Genetics (BIO 331)

Website

http://web.mst.edu/~rfrank

Chen Hou, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Director, Laboratory of Animal Physiology

Research Interests

Metabolic basis of aging

Energetic basis of animal growth and reproduction

Mammalian respiratory physiology

Eusocial insects

Education

Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, B.S. in Physics, 1997

University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, M.S. in Physics, 2000

University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, Ph.D. in Physics 2005 

Representative Publications

C. Hou, K. Bolt, and A. Bergman. 2011. A general model for ontogenetic growth under food restriction. Proc. R. Soc. B . doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0047.

C. Hou, K. Bolt, and A. Bergman. 2011. A general life history theory for effects of caloric restriction on health maintenance. BMC Systems Biology 5:78. doi:10.1186/1752-0509-5-78

C. Hou, K. Bolt, and A. Bergman. 2011. Energetic basis of correlation between catch-up growth, health maintenance and aging. J. Gerontol. A. Biol. Sci. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glr027.

C. Hou, S. Gheorghiu, V.H. Huxley, and P. Pfeifer. 2010. Reverse engineering of oxygen transport in the lung: Adaptive control from fractal networks. PLoS Comp. Biol. 6: e1000902.

C. Hou, M. Kaspari, H.B. Vander Zanden, and J.F. Gillooly. 2010. The energetic basis of colonial living in social insects. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. of U.S.A. 107:3634-3638.

C. Hou, W. Zuo, M.E. Moses, W. H. Woodruff, J. H. Brown, and G. B. West. 2008. Energy uptake and allocation during ontogeny.  Science 322:736-739. (Faculty of 1000 Biology Recommendations)

Website

http://www.mst.edu/~houch

Yue-wern Huang, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Director, Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology

Research Interests

Toxicity and mechanism of nanomaterials

Endocrine modulation in the environment

Education

National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, B.A., 1986

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ph.D., Zoology, 1998

Representative Publications

Chuan-Chin Huang, Robert S. Aronstam, Da-Ren Chen, and Yue-wern Huang. 2009. Intracellular calcium modulation and gene expression alteration in human lung epithelial cells exposed to ZnO nanoparticles. (Toxicology in Vitro; Accepted)

Rong Shi, Chuan-Chin Huang, Robert S. Aronstam, Nuran Ercal, Adam Martin, and Yue-wern Huang. 2009. N-acetylcysteine amide protects H9c2 cardiomyocytes fro doxorubicin-induced toxicity. BMC Pharmacology. DOI:  10.1186/1471-2210-9-7. (15 April 2009)

Yue-wern Huang, Dev K. Niyogi, Paul K. Nam, and Janet M. Bandeff. 2009. Livestock hormones in aquatic ecosystems. In Coats J., Henderson K. (Eds.), Veterinary Pharmaceuticals in the Environment. (In Press).

Weisheng Lin, Yi Xu, Chuan-Chin Huang, Yinfa Ma, Katie B. Shannon, Da-Ren Chen, and Yue-wern Huang. 2009. Toxicity of nano- and micro-sized ZnO particles in human lung epithelial cells. Journal of Nanoparticle Research 11:25-39. DOI: 10.1007/s11051-008-9419-7. (10 June 2008)

Weisheng Lin, Issac Stayton, Yue-wern Huang, Xiao-Dong Zhou, and Yinfa Ma. 2008. Cytotoxicity and cell membrane depolarization induced by aluminum oxide nanoparticles in human lung epithelial cells A549. Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry 90:983-996. DOI: 10.1080/02772240701802559.

Loretta Hunter, Gary Gadbury, and Yue-wern Huang. 2008. Atrazine exposure and breast cancer incidence: an ecologic study of Missouri counties. Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry. 90:367-376

Mauricio Solis, Chihchin Liu, Janet Bandeff, Paul Nam, Dev Niyogi, and Yue-wern Huang. 2007. Occurrence of organic chemicals in two rivers inhabited by Ozark hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi). Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 53: 426-434.

Yue-wern Huang, Jacob R. Phillips, and Loretta Hunter. 2007. Human exposure to medical, dietary, and environmental estrogens. Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry. 89:141-160.

Mauricio E. Solis and Yue-wern Huang. 2007. Hematology and serum chemistry of Ozark and Eastern hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis). Herpetologica. 63:285-292.

Courses Taught

Ecology (BIO 251), Senior Seminar (BIO 310), Toxicology (BIO 370), Nanobiotechnology in Public Health (BIO 401)

Website

http://www.mst.edu/~huangy

Melanie R. Mormile, Ph.D.

Professor
Environmental Microbiology

Research Interests

Anaerobic microorganisms

Biodegradation of organic chemicals

Extremophiles in saline environments

Education

University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, B.S., 1985

University of Louisville, Louisville, M.S., 1988

University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ph.D., 1995

Representative Publications

Mormile, M.R., B-y. Hong, and K.C. Benison. 2009. Molecular analysis of the microbial communities of Mars-analog lakes in Western Australia. Revision submitted to Astrobiology - accepted provisionally.

VanEngelen, M.R., B.M. Peyton, M.R. Mormile, and H.C. Pinkart. 2008. Fe(III), Cr(VI), and Fe(III) mediated Cr(VI) reduction in alkaline media using a Halomonas isolate from Soap Lake, Washington. Biodegredation, 19: 841-850

Dimitriu, P.A., H.C. Pinkart, B.M. Peyton, and M.R. Mormile. 2008. Spatial and temporal patterns in the microbial diversity of a meromictic soda lake in Washington State. Applied and Environmental Biology, 74: 4877-4888.

Bowen, B.B., K.C. Benison, F.E. Oboh-Ikuenobe, S.L. Story, and M.R. Mormile. 2008. Active hematite concretion formation in modern acid saline lake sediments: A model for early diagenetic hematite on Mars? Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 268: 52-63.

Benison, K.C., E.A. Jagniecki, T.B. Edwards, M.R. Mormile, M.C. Storrie-Lombardi. 2008. Special Paper: "Hairy blobs": Microbial suspects preserved in modern and ancient extremely acid lake evaporites. Astrobiology, 8: 489-503.

Maccauley, JJ, C.D. Adams, and M.R. Mormile. 2007. Diversity of tet resistance genes in tetracycline-resistant bacteria isolated from a swine lagoon with low antibiotic impact. Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 53: 1307-1315.

Pollock, J., K.A. Weber, J. Lack, L.A. Achenbach, M.R. Mormile, and J.D. Coates. 2007. Alkaline iron(III) reduction by a novel alkaliphilic, halotolerant, Bacillus sp. isolated from salt flat sediments of Soap Lake. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 77: 927-934.

Arahal, D.R., R.H. Vreeland, C.D. Litchfield, M.R. Mormile, B.J. Tindall, A. Oren, V. Bejar, E. Quesada, and Antonio Ventosa. 2007. Recommended minimal standards for describing new taxa of the family Halomonadaceae. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 57: 2436-2446.

Benison, K.C., B.B. Bowen, F.E. Ikuenobe, E.A. Jagniecki, D.A. LaClair, S.L. Story, M.R. Mormile, and B-Y. Hong. 2007. Sedimentology of acid saline lakes in Southern Western Australia: Newly described processes and products of an extreme environment. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 77: 366-388, doi: 10.2110/jsr.2007.038.

Kovacik, Jr., W.P., K. Takai, M.R. Mormile, J.P. McKinley, F.J. Brockman, J.K. Fredrickson, and W.E. Holben.  2006.  Molecular analysis of deep subsurface Cretaceous rock indicates abundant Fe(III)- and S0-reducing bacteria in a sulfate-rich environment.  Environmental Microbiology, 8: 141-155.

Macauley, J.J, Z. Qiang, C.D. Adams, R. Surampalli, and M.R. Mormile.  2006.  Disinfection of swine wastewater using chlorine, ultraviolet light and ozone.  Water Research, 40: 2017-2026.

Courses Taught

Introduction to Biological Sciences (BIO 102), Microbiology Lecture (BIO 221), Environmental Microbiology (BIO 301), Advanced Microbial Metabolism (BIO 421), Astrobiology (BIO 452), Bioremediation (BIO 455)

Dev K. Niyogi, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Director, Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology

Research Interests

Effects of humanity on stream ecosystems

Role of biodiversity in controlling ecosystem processes

Nutrient uptake in streams and other aquatic systems

Education

Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, B.A, 1989

University of Colorado, Boulder, Ph.D., 1999

Representative Publications

Greig, H.S., D.K. Niyogi, K.L. Hogsden, P.G. Jellyman, and J.S. Harding. 2010. Heavy metals: confounding factors in the response of New Zealand freshwater fish assemblages to natural and anthropogenic acidity. Science of the Total Environment. 48:3240-3250.

Niyogi, D.K., J.M. Bandeff, C. Selman, and D.E. Menke. 2010. Nutrient flux, uptake, and transformation in a spring-fed stream in the Missouri Ozarks, USA. Aquatic Sciences. 72:203-212.

Niyogi, D.K., C.A. Cheatham, W.H. Thomson, and J.M. Christiansen. 2009. Litter breakdown and fungal diversity in a stream affected by mine drainage. Fundamental and Applied Limnology. 175:39-48.

Lear, G., Niyogi, D., J. Harding, Y. Dong, and G. Lewis. 2009. Biofilm bacterial community structure in streams affected by acid mine drainage. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 75:3455-3460.

Niyogi, D.K., M. Koren, C. A. Arbuckle, and C.R. Townsend. 2007. Stream community structure along a catchment land-use gradient; subsidy-stress responses to pastoral development. Environmental Management. 39:213-225.

Niyogi D.K., K.S. Simon and C.R. Townsend. 2003. Breakdown of tussock grass in streams along a gradient of agricultural development. Freshwater Biology. 48:1698-1708

Niyogi D.K., W.M. Lewis Jr, and D.M. McKnight. 2002. Effects of stress from mine drainage on diversity, biomass, and function of primary producers in mountain stream. Ecosystems. 5:554-567

Courses Taught

Introduction to Environmental Science (BIO 151), Ecology (BIO 251), Global Ecology (BIO 364), Freshwater Ecology (BIO 354)

Website 

http://www.mst.edu/~niyogid

Katie Shannon, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Director, Laboratory of Cytokinesis

Research Interests

The temporal and spatial control of cell division

Budding yeast as a model to determine how cytokinesis is cell-cycle regulated.

Education

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, B.A., 1994

Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA , Ph.D., Cell and Developmental Biology, 2000

Representative Publications

Stayton, I., Winiarz, J., Shannon, K., Ma, Y.* (2009) Study of Uptake and Loss of Silica Nanoparticles in Living Human Lung Epithelial Cells at the Single Cell Level. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. DOI 10.1007/s00216-009-2839-0

Park, S., Cable, A.E., Blair, J., Stockstill, K.E., Shannon, K.B.* (2009) Bub2 Regulation of Cytokinesis and Septation in Budding Yeast. BMC Cell Biology 10:43

Lin, W., Xu, Y., Huang, C., Ma, Y., Shannon, K.B., Chen, D. and Huang, Y.* (2008) In Vitro Oxidative Stress and DNA Damage Induced by Nano- and Micro-sized ZnO Particles in Human Lung Epithelial Cells. Journal of Nanoparticle Research Special Issue: Nanoparticles and Occupation Safety. DOI 10.1007/s11051-008-9419-7.

Ogony, J., Mathews, R., Anni, H., Shannon, K., and Ercal, N.* (2007) The mechanism of elevated toxicity in HepG2 cells due to combined exposure to ethanol and ionizing radiation. Journal of Applied Toxicology Published Online: Jul 13 2007 11:12AM in print J. Appl. Toxicol. 2008; 28: 345-355

Courses Taught

Cell Biology (BIO 211), Decoding Your Genes (BIO 201), Cancer Biology (BIO 301)

Website

http://openwetware.org/wiki/User:Katie_B_Shannon

Mathew S. Thingman, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Director, Laboratory of Sleep Biology

Research Interests

Biochemistry, genetics and anatomy of the sleep loss response: role of lipid metabolism in Drosophila. Identification of biomarkers for sleepiness.

Education:

University of California, Los Angeles, B.S., Microbiology, 1996

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Ph.D., 2005

Representative Publications:

Thimgan, M.S., Y. Suzuki, L. Seugnet, L. Gottschalk and P.J. Shaw, The Perilipin homologue, Lipid storage droplet 2, regulates sleep homeostasis and prevents learning impairments following sleep loss, PLoS. 2010.

Suegnet, L., Y. Suzuki, M.S. Thimgan, J. Donlea, S. Gimbel, L. Gottschalk, S. Duntley and P.J. Shaw, Identifying sleep regulatory genes using a Drosophila model of insomnia, Journal of Neuroscience 29(22):7148-7157, 2009.

Thimgan, M.S., J. Berg and A. Stuart, Comparative sequence analysis and tissue localization of members of the SLC6 family of transporters in adult Drosophila melanogaster. J. Exp. Biol. 209(Pt 17):3383-3404, 2006.

Courses Taught

Human Anatomy and Physiology I (Bio 244)

David J Westenberg, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Director, Laboratory of Rhizosphere Microbiology

Research Interests

Rhizosphere microbiology
Bioenergetics of symbiotic nitrogen fixation
Cell-cell communication in plant-microbe interactions
Microbiology education

Education

Michigan State University, East Lansing, B.S. Microbiology and Public Health, 1982

University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D. Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, 1991

Representative Publications

D.J. Westenberg, 2007 B. japonicum, Agriculture and the Bacterium, BIOforum Europe, 11:16

Burken, J.G., Gilbertson, A.W. and Westenberg, D.J. 2007 Genetically Enhanced Rhizodegradation for Organic Contaminants In L. Newman and C. Reynolds., (eds.) Plant-Microbe Interactions for Environmental Remediation, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX

D.J. Westenberg, 2002, Evidence for AHL autoinducer production by the soybean symbiont Bradyrhizobium japonicum. In: Finan et al. (eds.), Nitrogen Fixation: Global Perspectives, CABI Publishing, Oxford University Press, Cary, NC

V. Gulley and D.J. Westenberg, 2002, Regulation of the Bradyrhizobium japonicum sdh operon encoding succinate dehydrogenase, In: Finan et al (eds.), Nitrogen Fixation: Global Perspectives, CABI Publishing, Oxford University Press, Cary, NC

D. J. Westenberg and M. L. Guerinot, 1999, Succinate dehydrogenase (Sdh) from Bradyrhizobium japonicum is closely related to mitochondrial Sdh and is sensitive to the agricultural fungicide carboxin, J. Bacteriol.181:4676-4679

Courses Taught

Microbiology (BIO 221) and Microbiology Lab (BIO 222), General Genetics (BIO 231), Senior Seminar (BIO 310), Microbial Genetics (BIO 301/401), Synthetic Biology (BIO 201), Pathogenic Microbiology (BIO 321), General Virology (BIO 391), Advanced Microbial Metabolism (BIO 421)

Website

http://www.mst.edu/~djwesten

Terry Wilson, M.S.

Associate Teaching Professor
Assistant Affiliate Director
Project Lead the Way Biomedical

Education

Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, B.S. in Education, 1983

Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, M.S. in Biology, 1993

Courses Taught

General Biology Lecture (BIO 110) and Lab (BIO 112), Principles of Biology (BIO 111), Biodiversity (BIO 113) and Lab (BIO 114), Cell Biology Lab (BIO 212), Ecology (BIO 251)