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Dr. Brandon Kim awarded $447K NIH R15 grant to study impairment of the cerebral vasculature during bacterial meningitis

Dr. Brandon Kim has been awarded a $447K NIH R15 grant to study impairment of the cerebral vasculature during bacterial meningitis. Bacterial meningitis is a serious life-threatening infection of the central nervous system that occurs when bacteria are able to cross the highly specialized cerebral vasculature and enter the brain. The cells that comprise the cerebral vasculature are collectively known as the blood-brain barrier and possess unique properties that ensure proper brain homeostasis while also restricting toxins and pathogens. Group […]

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Drs. Benstead, Huryn, and Shogren awarded $990K NSF grant to study thermal compensation in stream ecosystems in response to drought

Drs. Benstead, Huryn, and Shogren’s research proposal entitled “Collaborative Research: NSFDEB-NERC: Warming’s silver lining? Thermal compensation at multiple levels of organization may promote stream ecosystem stability in response to drought” ($990,203) has been funded by the Nation Science Foundation. This collaborative NSFDEB-NERC project (with Wyatt Cross at Montana State) will combine laboratory measurements (University of Iceland), stream mesocosm manipulations of temperature and drought (University of Birmingham, U.K.), and whole-reach drought manipulations (Hengill geothermal catchment, Iceland) to test the overarching hypothesis […]

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Dr. Harris and Worth Pugh awarded $78K IMLS Grant to rehouse and digitize its department’s collection of ~20,000 crayfish specimens

Dr. Philip Harris and Worth Pugh, Coordinator of Zoological Collections, have been awarded $78,323 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to rehouse and digitize its department’s collection of ~20,000 crayfish specimens. This award will be used to hire and train paid and volunteer student workers who will catalog, label, and shelve specimens. In addition, staff will also conduct database cleanup for crayfish lots from waterbodies across Alabama, updating taxonomy and georeferencing for increased accuracy. Finally, to advance the […]

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Dr. Higgins awarded $1.8M NIH grant to Investigate Biosynthetic Enzymes to Enhance Natural Product Discovery

Dr. Melanie Higgins has been notified that her NIH proposal titled “Investigating biosynthetic enzymes to enhance natural product discovery” has been selected for funding. This proposal is being funded through the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) through NIGMS and is for $1.8M.  Proposed research: Natural products (NPs) have diverse complex structures and play a vital role in drug discovery and development. Although the rate of discovery of natural products has increased significantly, traditional bioactivity-guided discovery methods frequently lead to the […]

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In Memory of Jake Dybiec

It is with great sadness that we notify our alumni, faculty, staff, students as well as the broader community, that one of our graduate students, Jacob “Jake” Dybiec of Cleveland, OH passed away unexpectedly on Monday, July 3, 2023. A graduate student in the College of Arts & Sciences, Jake was pursuing a Ph.D. in Biology and had advanced to candidacy. A team member in the Cherry Wetland Ecology Lab, Jake was previously awarded a Graduate Council Fellowship and served as a research assistant for the […]

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