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Expertise

• Biophysics, molecular biology, nanotechnology
• Atomic force microscopy for imaging and manipulating molecules, nanoscopic fibers and cells
• Laser scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy and regular fluorescence microscopy (combined with the atomic-force microscope)
• Next-generation genetic sequencing using the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine by Life Technologies

Current Research

• Using nanotechnology and next-generation genetic sequencing for drug discovery.
• Studying fibrin fibers in blood clots to find new treatments for heart attacks and strokes.
• Investigating how normal cells and cancerous cells differ, focusing on breast cancer cells.
• Studying electrospun fibrin, collagen and synthetic polymer nanofibers to use as scaffolds in repairing or rebuilding tissue.

Teaching

• Introductory Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Calculus-based, General Physics
• Biophysics
• Biophysics Methods Lab
• Physics Research

Education

• Ph.D., M.A., University of Oregon
• Vordiplom (B.S.), Universität Ulm, Germany

Selected Publications

• “α−α Crosslinks Increase Fibrin Fiber Elasticity and Stiffness,” Biophysical Journal, 2012
• “The Mechanical Properties of Dry, Electrospun Fibrinogen Fibers,” Materials Science and Engineering, 2012
• “Fibrinogen Unfolding Mechanisms Are Not Too Much of a Stretch,” Structure, 2011
• “Selection of Bead-Displayed, PNA-encoded Chemicals,” Journal of Molecular Recognition, 2010

Related Links

• Faculty website
• Research group website

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Expertise

• Medicinal chemistry
• Platinum- and gold-based drugs
• Cancer biology and treatments
• Drug discovery and testing
• Bioinorganic chemistry
• Combinatorial chemistry
• Manipulating nucleic acid structures

Current Research

• DNA-targeted platinum–acridine anticancer agents
• Targeting and probing unusual disease-related nucleic acid structures
• Therapies that disrupt aberrant growth signals in cancer cells

Teaching

• Inorganic Chemistry
• Bioinorganic Chemistry
• General Chemistry
• Molecules to Medicines

Education

• B.S. and Ph.D., University of Oldenburg, Germany

Selected Publications

• L. A. Graham, J. Suryadi, T. K. West, G. L. Kucera, U. Bierbach: Synthesis, Aqueous Reactivity, and Biological Evaluation of Carboxylic Acid Ester-Functionalized Platinum–Acridine Hybrid Anticancer Agents. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 55, 7817–7827 (2012).
• X. Qiao, A. E. Zeitany, M. W. Wright, A. S. Essader, K. E. Levine, U. Bierbach: Analysis of the DNA damage produced by a platinum–acridine antitumor agent and its effects in NCI-H460 lung cancer cells. Metallomics, 4, 645-652 (2012).
• C. L. Smyre, G. Saluta, T. E. Kute, G. L. Kucera, U. Bierbach: Inhibition of DNA Synthesis by a Platinum–Acridine Hybrid Agent Leads to Potent Cell Kill in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 2, 870-874 (2011).
• H. Kostrhunova, J. Malina, A. J. Pickard, J. Stepankova, M. Vojtiskova, J. Kasparkova, T. Muchova, M. L. Rohlfing, U. Bierbach, V. Brabec: Replacement of a Thiourea with an Amidine Group in a Monofunctional Platinum–Acridine Antitumor Agent. Effect on DNA Interactions, DNA Adduct Recognition and Repair. Mol. Pharmaceutics, 8, 1941-1954 (2011).
• L. A. Graham, G. M. Wilson, T. K. West, C. S. Day, G. L. Kucera, U. Bierbach: Unusual Reactivity of a Potent Platinum-Acridine Hybrid Antitumor Agent. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 2, 687-691 (2011).
• J. R. Choudhury, L. Rao, U. Bierbach: Rates of intercalator-driven platination of DNA determined by restriction enzyme cleavage inhibition assay. Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, 16, 373-380 (2011).

Other Media

• The Bierbach Group: Biomedical Chemistry

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Expertise

• Theoretical and computational research in condensed matter physics to better understand the behavior and characteristics of materials. This research supports the design of new, improved and advanced materials for use in all types of technology.

Current Research

• Testing hydrogen-storage options to facilitate the use of hydrogen to power vehicles.
• Investigating metal organic framework materials for gas sequestration and carbon capture, to control the release of greenhouse gasses.
• Calculating nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shifts to better understand the structure of materials ranging from water to human DNA.

Teaching

• General physics
• Condensed matter physics
• Quantum physics

Education

• Ph.D., M.S., B.S., Karl-Franzens-Universität, Austria

Selected Publications

• “Tuning the gate opening pressure of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) for the selective separation of hydrocarbons,” Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2012
• “Molecular biology at the quantum level: Can modern density functional theory forge the path?” Nano LIFE, 2012
• “van der Waals density functional study of energetic, structural, and vibrational properties of small water clusters and ice,” Physical Review, 2011

Other Media

• Research group website

More information

Expertise

• Neural control of physiology and behavior
• Molecular biology
• Biological oscillators

Current Research

• Neural circuits and fruit flies
• Role of AMP-activated kinase in signaling hormones to release energy stores under starvation conditions
• Neuronal cell signaling
• Neurotransmitters and their receptors

Teaching

• Chronobiology
• Neural circuits
• Endocrinology
• Genetics

Education

• B.A. and Ph.D., University of Maine

Selected Publications

• “Altered metabolism and persistent starvation phenotypes caused by reduced AMP-activated kinase function in Drosophila,” PLoS ONE, 2010
• “Corazonin neurons participate in sexually dimorphic circuitry that shape behavioral responses to stress in Drosophila,” PLoS ONE, 2010
• “Functional differences between two CRF-Related Diuretic Hormone Receptors in Drosophila,” Journal of Experimental Biology, 2009

More information

Expertise

• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Security
• Probabilistic Reasoning
• Multiagent Systems

Ongoing Collaborative Research

• Modeling biological networks and sequence motifs employed in hormonal control of phenylpropanoid synthesis
• Development of computational algebra and Bayesian tools for biological modeling
• Modeling signaling networks and transcriptional regulatory networks in osteoarthritis
• Discovering host intent through network motif analysis

Teaching

• Advanced Android Programming
• Computational Systems Biology
• Programming Languages

Education

• B.S., College of Charleston
• Ph.D., University of South Carolina

Selected Publications

• “Engaging the community with mobile app projects.” William H. Turkett, Jr., V. Paúl Pauca, Joel Hollingsworth. In Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2012.
• “Graph mining of motif profiles for computer network activity inference.” William H. Turkett Jr., Errin W. Fulp, Charles Lever, and Eddie Allan. In Proceedings of the Ninth Workshop on Mining and Learning with Graphs (MLG 2011), 2011. PDF available here
• “Comparison of co-temporal modeling algorithms on sparse experimental time series data sets.” Edward E. Allen, James L. Norris, David J. John, Stan J. Thomas, William H. Turkett Jr., Jacquelyn S. Fetrow. In Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering, 2010. Online article here
• “Using network motifs to identify application protocols.” Eddie G. Allan, William H. Turkett, and Errin W. Fulp. In Proceedings of the IEEE Global Communications Conference, 2009. PDF available here

Grants

• Motif-Driven Function and Association Discovery in Computer Networks To Support Management and Security of IT Infrastructures
• Modeling Biological Networks in Arabidopsis through Integration of Genomic, Proteomic, and Metabolomic Data

More information

Expertise

• Sustainability
• Environmental issues
• Climate change
• Extinction
• Tropical Conservation
• Cloud Forests
• Large-scale species distribution in the western Andes and Amazon
• Paleoecology and response to climate change of Andean and Amazonian forest trees
• Plant-animal interactions and community structure and diversity

Current Research

• The effects of humans on Amazonian and Andean ecosystems
• The exploration of little-known ecosystems in South America, particularly the bamboo forest and Andean forest
• The use of remote sensing to determine carbon content and deforestation rates
• Conservation of the last wild places in the Amazon and Andes
• The role of animals in tropical forests
• The distribution of tropical species and their responses to climate change
• Estimating extinction rates in high-biodiversity areas

Teaching

• Tropical Ecology
• Tropical Biodiversity
• Community Ecology
• Plant Evolution
• Plant Ecology
• Techniques in Mathematical Biology
• Advanced Ecology

Education

• B.S., University of Missouri
• Ph.D., Duke University

Selected Publications

• “Sparse Pre-Columbian Human Habitation in Western Amazonia,” Science, June 2012
• “The upward migration of Andean trees in response to increasing temperatures,” Journal of Biogeography, April 2011
• “Extinction rates of Amazonian plant species,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2009
• “Land-use and climate change effects on population size and extinction risk of Andean plants,” Global Change Biology, February 2010
• “Ecosystem carbon storage across the grassland-forest transition in the high Andes of Manu National Park, Peru,” Ecosystems, September 2010

Related links

• Population and Community Ecology Lab

More information

Expertise

• Flexible plastics
• Organic electronics
• Nanotechnology
• Macroelectronics
• Organic semiconductors
• Organic devices

Current Research

• Physics of organic semiconductor devices
• Organic spintronics
• Functional organic materials
• Structure-property correlations

Teaching

• General Physics 1 & 2
• Electronics

Education

• BS, MS, University of Timisoara (Romania)
• PhD, University of Groningen (The Netherlands)

Selected Publications

• H.-J. Jang, O. A. Kirillov, O. D. Jurchescu, and Curt A. Richter, “Spin transport in memristive devices”, Applied Physics Letters. 100, 043510 (2012)
• K. P. Goetz, Z. Li, J. W. Ward, C. Bougher, J. Rivnay, J. Smith, B. R. Conrad, S. R. Parkin, T. D. Anthopoulos, A. Salleo, J. E. Anthony and O. D. Jurchescu, “Effect of Acene Length on Electronic Properties in 5-, 6-, and 7-Ringed Heteroacenes” Advanced Materials. 23, 3698 (2011).
• M. Coll, K. P. Goetz, B. R. Conrad, C. A. Hacker, D. J. Gundlach, C. A. Richter, and O. D. Jurchescu, “Flip chip lamination to electrically contact organic single crystals on flexible substrates”, Applied Physics Letters. 98, 163302 (2011).
• J. W. Owen, N. A. Azarova, M. A. Loth, M. Paradinas, M. Coll, C. Ocal, J. E. Anthony, and O. D. Jurchescu, “Effect of Processing Parameters on Performance of Spray-Deposited Organic Thin-Film Transistors,” Journal of Nanotechnology. 2011, 914510 (2011).
• N. A. Azarova, J. W. Owen, C. A. McLellan, M. A. Grimminger, E. K. Chapman, J. E. Anthony, and O. D. Jurchescu, “Fabrication of Organic Thin-Film Transistors by Spray-Deposition for Low-Cost, Large-Area Electronics”, Org. Electron. 11, 1960 (2010).

Related links

• Organic Electronics Research Group

More information

Expertise

• Japan
• Japanese Literature, Film, and Culture
• National identity
• Cultural Narratives
• Postmodern Culture

Teaching

• Japanese Literature
• Japanese Pop Culture
• Japanese Film
• Contemporary East Asian Film
• East Asian Culture
• Postmodernism
• Advanced Japanese

Education

• BA, MA, Brigham Young
• PhD, UC Berkeley

Selected Publications (forthcoming)

• “Shimada Masahiko’s ‘Sophisticated Masochism’ and Japanese Postwar Subjectivity”
• “Ninja in the Dragon’s Den: Regional Imaginaries in East Asian Action Cinema”
• “The Database Imagination of Japanese Postmodern Culture” Japanese Studies.

Related articles

• Telling the story of Pearl Harbor

More information

Expertise

• Particle Physics
• Particle Astrophysics
• Numerical General Relativity
• Semi-Classical Gravity
• Skepticism
• Numerical Patterns

Current Research

• Wormholes
• Neutrino stars

Teaching

• Quantum Mechanics
• General Physics
• Elementary Modern Physics
• Astronomy
• Cosmology
• Skepticism, Pseudoscience and the Scientific Method
• Particle Physics

Education

• MA, Ph.D, Harvard University
• BS, Michigan State University

Selected Publications

• “Semiclassical gravity in the far field limit of stars, black holes, and wormholes,” E. D. Carlson, P. R. Anderson, A. Fabbri, S. Fagnocchi, W. H. Hirsch, and S. A. Klyap, Physical Review D, 82(124070), 23 (2010).
• “Stress-energy Tensor for Massless Spin-1/2 in Static Black Hole Spacetimes,” Eric D. Carlson, William H. Hirsch, Benedikt Obermayer, Paul R. Anderson, and Peter B. Groves, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 051301 (2003).
• “Method to compute the stress-energy tensor for the massless spin 1/2 field in a general static spherically symmetric spacetime,” Peter B. Groves, Paul R. Anderson, and Eric D. Carlson, Phys. Rev. D66, 124017 (2002).
• “Black Hole Evolution by Spectral Methods,” Eric D. Carlson, Lawrence E. Kidder, Mark A. Scheel, Saul A. Teukolsky, and Gregory B. Cook, Phys. Rev. D62, 084032 (2000).
• “Pseudoscalar Conversion and X-rays from the Sun,” Eric D. Carlson, Physics Letters B 369, 193 (1996).
• “Photon to Pseudoscalar Conversion in the Interstellar Medium,” Eric D. Carlson and W.D. Garretson, Phys. Lett. B336, 431 (1994).

More information

Expertise

• International Recruiting
• Immersion of International Students into U.S. Colleges
• Tiger Mom Parenting Theories
• College Admissions
• Theology and Biblical Studies
• East Asian Culture
• International Education

Education

• MBA, Wake Forest University
• Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
• M.Div., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
• BA, Meredith College

Selected Publications

• McKinnish Bridges, L. (2011). Agrarian Aphorisms in the Gospel of John: An Illustration of John 4:35. Jesus, John, and History: Society of Biblical Literature.
• McKinnish Bridges, L. (2008). 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Macon: Smith & Helwys Publishing.
• McKinnish Bridges, L. (2007). The Fourth Gospel and Celtic Christianity. New York: Edwin Mellen Press.
• McKinnish Bridges, L. (1997). The Church’s Portrait of Jesus. Macon: Smith & Helwys Publishing.