Daniel Rouhani Founds a 3D Design Company to Help Scientists Better Communicate their Research

Rouhani

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, University of Georgia student Daniel Rouhani had to reimagine his research so he could continue his work as a CURO Summer Fellow. Then something struck him. “Recent discoveries in COVID-19 were emerging, and I noticed the lack of accurate visualizations available to explain the complexities of the disease,” he said.

Following that intuition, Rouhani taught himself how to 3D model and visualize COVID-19 proteins the summer after his freshman year.

Chelsey M. VanDrisse

Assistant Professor
Education:

Ph.D (2018) University of Georgia

Research Areas:
Molecular Genetics
Research Interests:

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the leading causes of chronic infections due to its ability to form robust, antibiotic tolerant biofilms. It is therefore imperative to better understand bacterial physiology in order to discover new ways to dismantle biofilms and clear infections. Some questions we seek to answer include: 1. What is the chemical environment of chronic wounds and how does nutrient availability influence biofilm formation? 2. What are the regulatory requirements for biofilm formation and dispersal (with a focus on the process of acetylation) and 3. How can we take advantage the information we learn in our research to develop novel drugs for chronic infections?

Selected Publications:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/chelsey.vandrisse.1/bibliography/public/

Katie Billmyre

Assistant Professor

Our lab is broadly interested in understanding aspects of meiotic chromosome biology. Meiosis is the process by which a diploid genome (2 sets of chromosomes) is reduced to a haploid genome (1 set of chromosomes) and packaged into either eggs or sperm. Inheritance of a complete set of chromosomes is important for production of viable offspring, meaning that meiosis is critical for fertility. In humans, meiotic errors that cause missegregation of chromosomes are a leading cause of infertility, miscarriages, and birth defects. Accurate chromosome segregation is challenging in part because organisms typically contain sets of chromosomes with vast differences in size and structure. For example, the largest human chromosome is 5 times longer than the smallest and in the model fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster the largest is 46 times longer than the smallest. Meiosis must accurately segregate distinctly different chromosomes and my lab’s past work has revealed meiotic mechanisms specific to individual chromosomes in Drosophila. We are using a combination of imaging, genetic, and genomic techniques to answer questions about how different chromosomes accurately undergo meiosis using Drosophila as a model system.

Education:

2015 Ph.D. Cell Biology, Duke University

2009 B.S. Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan

Research Areas:
Genomics and Bioinformatics
Developmental Biology
Molecular Genetics
Grants:

NIGMS K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award

Uncovering mechanisms controlling chromosome-specific behaviors during meiosis

Selected Publications:

Billmyre, K.K. 2022 Chromosome-specific behaviors during early meiosis. Current Topics in Developmental Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.ctdb.2022.05.002

Wesley, E.R., Hawley, R.S., Billmyre, K.K.#, 2020. Genetic background impacts the timing of synaptonemal complex breakdown in Drosophila melanogaster. Chromosoma 129, 243–254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-020-00742-9 (#Last author)

Billmyre, K.K.*, Cahoon, C.K.*, Heenan M.G., Wesley, E.R., Yu, Z., Unruh, J.R., Takeo, S., Scott Hawley, R., 2019. X chromosome and autosomal recombination are differentially sensitive to disruptions in SC maintenance. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 116, 21641–21650. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910840116 (*equal co-authors)

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Dr. Bi Receives Two NIH Awards

Dr. Bi

University of Georgia researcher Pengpeng Bi received a pair of National Institutes of Health grants in September: a Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA, 2022–2027) and an Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (R21, 2022–2024). The $2.3 million awards will support efforts to uncover the molecular mechanism of human muscle development and homeostasis.

Genetics Seminar Series: "The contribution of micro-RNAs to cancer metastasis: an evolutionary perspective" with John McDonald, PhD

John McDonald
School of Biological Sciences
Georgia Tech
Life Sciences B118
Seminars

The contribution of micro-RNAs to cancer metastasis: an evolutionary perspective

Departmental Host or Contact:
Michael Arnold

Genetics Seminar Series: "The developmental basis of biological diversity: insights from mammalian skin" with Ricardo Mallarino, PhD

Ricardo
Molecular Biology
Princeton University
Faculty Profile
Coverdell S175
Seminars

"The developmental basis of biological diversity: insights from mammalian skin"

Departmental Host or Contact:
Douglas Menke
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