Tags: Faculty

In a significant advancement in malaria research, UGA’s Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases has uncovered the role of an essential protein in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. This research offers promising insights for vaccine and drug development against a disease that claimed over 600,000 lives worldwide in 2022, primarily affecting children under five. Led by Vasant Muralidharan, an Associate Professor in the…

Read Full Article Congratulations to Dr. Zeltner on receiving such a prestigious award! Five UGA scholars have received Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) foundation awards in 2024 from the National Science Foundation for their research and potential as academic role models. The awardees are assistant professors Melanie Reber (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Department of Chemistry), Christopher Newton (Department of…

As we embark on a new academic journey, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who made the recent CBIO retreat such a resounding success. The energy, enthusiasm, and dedication of our community members were on full display, and it was truly inspiring to witness.   The retreat provided a wonderful platform to explore new research, welcome new faces to our community, and celebrate the significant milestone of moving nearly half…

Great news! Our PHD student, Megan Wright, been selected as the awardee of the University Women’s Club – Dianne C. Davison Graduate Fellowship for the 2024-2025 academic year. Congratulations on your award and continued success in your academic work.

Read Full article Autonomic parasympathetic neurons (parasymNs) control unconscious body responses, including “rest-and-digest.” ParasymN innervation is important for organ development, and parasymN dysfunction is a hallmark of autonomic neuropathy. However, parasymN function and dysfunction in humans are vastly understudied due to the lack of a model system. Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived neurons can fill this void as a versatile…

Congratulations to Dr. Julie Stanton on being recognized with 2023-2024 University of Georgia’s highest award for teaching, the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship! The Meigs Professorship reflects the university’s commitment to excellence in teaching, the value placed on student learning experiences and the central role instruction plays in the university’s mission. Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship honors six…

Baihetiya Baierna, a PhD student in the laboratory of Dr. Silvia Moreno, has been awarded a fellowship from the American Heart Association. The fellowship was awarded to study the Synthesis of ubiquinone in the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. “Toxoplasma gondii infects approximately one third of the world human population. The infection can cause serious complications in people with a suppressed immune system. Barna’s research…

Congratulations to Shannon Quinn for being selected as one of 23 early career scientists to win funding for research to accelerate the development of the next generation of imaging technologies as part of the inaugural year of Scialog: Advancing BioImaging.    

Malaria’s connection to Georgia goes back to the colonial period. The Southeastern United States provided prime conditions for a thriving mosquito population which ensured the spread of the disease. The state capital moved from Louisville to Milledgeville in 1806 in part because of malaria outbreaks among the state’s General Assembly. Later, the federal Office of Malaria Control in War Areas was established in Atlanta instead of…

Ronald Drew Etheridge’s scientific career can be characterized by one word—serendipity. After completing his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology with a Spanish language minor at the University of Georgia, Etheridge set out for Spain, where he traveled and worked as an English teacher. On his return home, and in need of a job, a former coworker mentioned a potential opening for a technician at UGA in the lab of Rick…