The Life Sciences Technology Institute has faculty members from a wide range of disciplines across campus. Departments of current members include biology, biomedical engineering, physics, mechanical engineering, forestry, math, chemistry, chemical engineering, kinesiology & integrative physiology. The LSTI faculty currently has 48 members, with five new members joining the faculty in 2014. Several faculty were honored with election/appointment to posts in national/international level science organizations in the past year.
Susan T Bagley
Professor Emerita, Biological Sciences
- microbial degradation and decomposition
- microbial control
- toxicology of environmental contaminants
Lanrong Bi
Associate Professor, Chemistry
- molecular probes for DNA sequencing analysis
- disease gene discovery
- new therapeutic agents towards cancer and cardiovascular disease
Victor Busov
Professor, Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences
- gibberellins
- activation tagging
- insertional mutagenesis
Jason Carter
Department Chair and Professor, Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology
Associate Dean, Colleges of Arts and Sciences
- regulation of arterial blood pressure
- sleep medicine
- adaptations to microgravity and exercise
Qing-Hui Chen
Assistant Professor, Kinesiology & Integrative Physiology
- Hypertension
- Congestive heart failure
Tarun Dam
Assistant Professor, Chemistry
- Molecular basis of glycan
- Macromolecular communication
- Biomolecular thermodynamics
Rupali Datta
Associate Professor. Biological Sciences
- phytoremediation
- plant-microbe interactions
- bioremediation
Aparna Digamber Deshpande
Research Assistant Professor, Adjunct Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
- Human Health and Natural Plant Compounds – An Awesome Link Known For Ages
- Gastrointestinal inflammation and plant natural products
- Attacking Cancer With Rice Stem Cell Culture
John Durocher
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
- Clinical and Applied Human Physiology
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Specificity of Exercise Assessment and Prescription
Shiyue Fang
Professor, Chemistry
- organic synthetic methodology
- asymmetric catalysis
- nucleic acid chemistry
Megan Frost
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
- Novel anti-clotting coatings for implantable biomaterials
Oliver Gailing
Associate Professor, Forest Resources and Environmental Science
- Ecological Genetics
- Adaptive evolution in plant populations
Jeremy Goldman
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
- vascular remodeling
- lymphangiogenesis
Michael Gretz Professor, Biological Sciences
- algal extracellular polymers
- cell wall polysaccharides
- biogenesis of biopolymer
Patricia Heiden
Professor, Chemistry
- bio- and nanocomposites and biomaterials
- nanoparticles, nanofibers & controlled release
- environmentally benign synthesis & processing
Caryn Heldt
Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering
- Virus removal & detection
- Therapeutic targets for amyloid disease progression
Erika Hersch-Green
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
- Plant Evolutionary Ecology
- Ecological Genetics
- Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics
Jingfeng Jiang
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
- Biomechanics
- Ultrasonic imaging
- Image and signal processing
Chandrashekhar P. Joshi
Professor and Department Chair, Biological Sciences
- cellulose and lignin biosynthesis
- wood development and tree growth
- bioinformatics and genomics
Sean Kirkpatrick
Department Chair, Biomedical Engineering
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
- Biomedical optics
- Lasers and other light sources for biology and medicine
- Non-contact measurement of tissue mechanics and fluid flows
Bruce Lee
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
- Biomimetic, bio-inspired materials
- Antimicrobial and antifouling coatings
- Nannotechnology
Haiying Liu
Professor, Chemistry
- Fluorescent probes for metal ions, cancer cells, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species.
- Electrochemical probes for proteins, bacteria, toxin and influenza virus.
Lynn Mazzoleni
Associate Professor, Chemistry
- Understanding the identities, occurrence, and transformation of aerosol organic compounds
- Identifying organic aerosol constituents from a variety of atmospheric environments
- Exploration of new LC column chemistries with ultrahigh pressure pumps for fast and thorough separations
Adrienne Minerick
Professor, Chemical Engineering
- Microdevices
- Electrokinetics
- Medical Devices
Pushpalatha Murthy
Professor, Chemistry
- signal transduction in plants
- inositol phosphate metabolism
- molecular biology of phytases
Keat Ghee Ong
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Director, Biotechnology Research Center
- implantable biosensors
- medical devices
- wireless sensors
Rupak Rajachar
Senior Lecturer, Biomedical Engineering
- cell-instructive materials
- vascular calcification
- cell mechanotransduction
Paul Sanders
Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
- Casting
- Solidification
- Material design
Qiuying Sha
Associate Professor, Mathematical Sciences
- statistics
- statistical genetics
Reza Shahbazian-Yassar
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics
- mechanical characterization of novel boron nitride and carbon nanotubes
- mechanics of biomaterials and nanomaterials
Jenny (Zhiying) Shan
Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology
- Hypertension
- Heart failure
- Obesity
Tolou Shokuhfar
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics
- Nanotechnology
- Nanomedicine
- Orthopedic implants
David Shonnard
Professor, Chemical Engineering
- enzyme directed evolution
- metabolic engineering
- environmental life cycle assessment
Ye (Sarah) Sun
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
- Cyber-Physical System
- Human-Machine Interaction
- Human Factors in Transportation
Marina Tanasova
Assistant Professor, Chemistry
- Synthesis of molecular probes for evaluating substrate selection by carbohydrate transporters
- Development of platforms for tumor imaging and drug delivery
- Design and synthesis of bioreductively-activated DNA repair inhibitors
Guiliang Tang
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
- Gene silencing
- RNA Interference (RNAi) and MicroRNA (miRNA)
- Wheat germ extract
Xiaoqing Tang
Assistant Professor, Biological Chemistry
- Diabetes
- Micro-RNAs
Stephen Techtmann
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
- Environmental Microbiology
- Next-generation sequencing technology and bioinformatics
- Microbial physiology and biochemistry
Martin J Thompson
Associate Professor, Chemistry
- posttranslational modification of proteins
- acetylation dependence of gene regulation
- histone-protein interactions
Ashutosh Tiwari
Associate Professor, Chemistry
- protein misfolding diseases
- neurodegenerative diseases
Ebenezer Tumban
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
- Infectious diseases, human papillomaviruses
- Virus-like particles, prophylactic & therapeutic vaccines
- Vaccine formulations
Leah M. Vucetich
Research Assistant Professor, Forest Resources and Environmental Sci.
- conservation genetics
- molecular genotyping
- Isle Royale population dynamics
Hairong Wei
Associate Professor, Forest Resources and Environmental Science
- Gene network construction
- Gene regulation for wood development
- Biological knowledge discovery via computational means
Thomas Werner
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
- Evolution of mushroom poison resistance in Drosophila
- Development and evolution of butterfly wing patterns
Ramakrishna Wusirika
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
- gene regulation by transposable elements
- evolution of plant disease resistance genes
- bidirectional promoters
Yinan Yuan
Research Assistant Professor, Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences
- Identification and characterization of natural antisense transcripts in woody plants
- Alternative splicing and salicylic acid metabolism in populus
- Sequencing complex plant genome through gene-enriched methods
Shuanglin Zhang
Professor, Mathematical Sciences
- statistics
- statistical genetics
- bioinformatics
Feng Zhao
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
- Engineering completely biological cardiovascular tissues for regenerative medicine
- Biomimetic microenvironment for 3D tissue development
Wen Zhou
Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering
- Computational systems for biology and engineering
- Bioenergy production from lignocellulosic biomass
- Process engineering with environmental concerns