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Department of Biology Faculty and Research |
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Department
Links W&L Links
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Education Undergraduate Degree: Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, PA Graduate Degrees: M.S. Michigan State University Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo
Joined W&L Faculty in 1989
Courses Taught at W&L Fundamentals of Biology (Biology 111)
Parasitology (Biology 210) Virology (Biology 396)
Current
Research Interests Serratia
marcescens
is a ubiquitous bacterium that is also an opportunistic pathogen, found
in nosocomial infections, especially in immunocompromised patients and
patients with indwelling catheters. These bacteria are motile by
swimming with a single flagellum or by swarming or by biofilm formation.
They also can produce a characteristic red molecule called prodigiosin.
Temperature and growth conditions, including the presence or absence of
antibiotics, affect the ability of these bacteria to produce prodigiosin
and influence their mode of motility. To understand their movement
along a catheter’s interior surface, I am interested in characterizing
the effects of temperature and the presence or either ampicillin or
tetracycline on the motility of Serratia
marcescens and in identifying the structural and regulatory genes
involved in prodigiosin production, swarming, and biofilm formation. With
my colleague, Dr. John Knox, I have worked on the origins and
biogeography of Helenium
virginicum, an endangered plant found in certain sinkhole ponds in
Augusta and Rockingham Counties, Virginia. By comparing the DNA
sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions, we have
determined the relationship of H.
virginicum to the other members of the Helenium
autumnale species complex and its identity with disjunct populations
recently found in southeastern Missouri. Our data also identified
a sister-group of H. virginicum,
uniquely found on the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada. I
also work with the W&L Legal Clinic's faculty and students who
represent, pro bono, coal
workers and their families to obtain compensation for medical treatment
and disability in suits against coal companies. Since many of the
facts in these cases revolve around the immunological bases of black
lung disease (Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis) undergraduate students and I
research the current literature on this disease and report our findings
to the Legal Clinic's faculty and students. We provide lawyers
with the biological information and explanations needed for their court
hearings.
Publications
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