Scientist of the Month
The Biomedical Learning and Student Training (BLAST) program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (性欲社) highlights scientists from all biomedical fields through the Scientist of the Month articles. These articles are shared across the University of Alaska Fairbanks (性欲社) and University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) campuses, and all BLaST partner institutions which include I募isa摹vik College, Fort Lewis College, Din茅 College, Salish Kootenai College, and Alaska Pacific University. Below are the Scientists of the Month recognized by calendar years from 2015 to present. Click on their names to access their flyers.
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Year-Month | Name | Role | Research Project | Mentors |
Institution
|
2024-Nov | John Harley | FPP/Former GMRA | Investigating routes of mercury exposure for women from La Paz, and Assessing regional, morphometric, and toxicological significance of concentrations of organohalogen contaminants in Northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) | Todd O'Hara, Kriya Dunlap |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2024-April | Robin Masterman | Scholar | Hibernation biology; The benefits and drawbacks to using traditional healing in the treatment of behavioral health issues; Stable isotopes and human diet; and Food sovereignty and security in the YK-Delta | Kelly Drew, Hoshi Sugiura, Andrea Bersamin, Diane O'Brien, Nikola Nicolic, Emily Sousa, and Ellen Chenoweth |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2024-March | Gabriel Miller | Scholar | Effects of Rabies Viral Glycoprotein Binding on Human and Dog 伪7 Nicotinic Receptors; and Effects of siRNA silencing on VDR expression and Oxidative Stress Tolerance in Microglia | Maegan Weltzin, Brittany O'Brien, Alireza Badei, Alex Cornwall, Nikola Nicolic, Emily Sousa |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2024-February | Michael Martins | Scholar | Using HAARP to Measure Temperatures and Winds in the Ionosphere as a Function of Height | Mark Conde, JR Ancheta, Heidi Shepard, Evita Maniatopoulou, Eduardo Jany, Benjamin Keisling, Brenda Konar, Torin Hooge, Nikola Nicolic, Emily Sousa, Andrew Cyr |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2023-December/ Jan. 2024 | Maggie House | Scholar | Biomonitoring Cripple Creek鈥檚 Water Quality After a Reconstruction Through Macro-Invertebrate Diversity | Christi Buffington, Dr. Jeff Muehlbauer, Sarah Barcalow, Lori Gildehaus | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
Year-Month | Name | Role | Research Project | Mentors |
Institution
|
2023-December/ Jan. 2024 | Maggie House | Scholar | Biomonitoring Cripple Creek鈥檚 Water Quality After a Reconstruction Through Macro-Invertebrate Diversity | Christi Buffington, Dr. Jeff Muehlbauer, Sarah Barcalow, Lori Gildehaus |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2023-October | Julie-Anne Brown | Scholar | Sustainable fish population management in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim (AYK) region | Dr. Kelly Drew, Maggie Harings, Hoshi Sugiura, Hannah Robinson, Sarah Barcalow, Dr. Andres Lopez, Eric Schoen |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2023-May | Logan Ito | Scholar | Comparative Genetic Analysis of Herring | Andres Lopez, Don Larson, Emily Sousa, Arleigh Reynolds |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2023-March | Shadrach Stitz | Scholar | Investigation into the role of zirconocene in mediating or catalyzing peptide bond formation | William (Bill) Howard, Emily Sousa, Nikola Nikolic |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2023-February | Christian Bolton | Scholar | Examining warming temperatures in the Antarctic that affect marine wildlife | Kristin O'Brien, Andrea Bersamin, Andrej Podlutsky, Emily Sousa, Hannah Robinson |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2023-January | Tirzah Bryant | Scholar | Behavioral patterns of snowshoe hares at salt licks | Knut Kielland, Emily Sousa, Andrew Cyr |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
Year-Month | Name | Role | Research Project | Mentors |
Institution
|
2022-December | Daphne Mueller | Scholar | Microbial community diversity in sediment and water from the Chena River | Andr茅s Lopez, Mario Muscarella, Linda Nicholas-Figueroa, Andrej Podlutsky, Sasha White, Emily Sousa, Theresa Vertigan |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2022-November | Laura Ekada | Scholar | Getting through a Pandemic: The Role of Culture and Traditions in a Rural Alaska Native Community | Jacques Philip, Inna Rivkin, Cathy Brooks, Janessa Newman, Emily Sousa |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2022-October | Tyler Baker-Chapman | Scholar | Effects of bacteriophage on antibiotic resistance | Mario Muscarella, Theresa Vertigan, Emily Sousa |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2022-September | Orlin Gologergen | Scholar, URE | Stable isotope analysis of bowhead whale skin and blubber | Jan Straley, Lauren Wild, Ellen Chenoweth, Emily Sousa |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2022-August | Mario Muscarella | FPP | The Alaska Wild Berry Microbiome Project | None |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2022-May | Jeramiah Brown | Scholar | DNA Repair Efficiency in Lung Cancer Cell Lines, and MinION novel technology-enrich for a specific target genome using adaptive sampling | Dr. Andrej Podlutsky, Dr. Devin Drown, Natalia Podlutskaya |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2022-April | Daniel Dykes | Scholar | The effects of social isolation on OCD mice | Abel Bult-Ito, Thomas Kuhn, Natalia Podlutskaya |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2022-March | Paul Larson | Scholar | Waterfowl ecology, population dynamics, and physiology | Diane O鈥橞rien, Matthew Wooller, Andrew Cyr |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2022-February | Samantha Wade | Scholar | Sequencing the genome of an oil-degrading bacterium from the Arctic Ocean | Mary Beth Leigh, Linda Nicholas-Figeuroa, Natalia Podlutskaya |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2022-January | Natalia Podlutskaya | RAMP | Diabetes in Alaska Native People, Hibernation and DNA repair, and I'qmik toxicity | Andrej Podlutsky |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
Year-Month | Name | Role | Research Project | Mentors |
Institution
|
2021-November | Megahn Reese | URE | DNA repair in ovarian cancer cell lines OV90 and SKOV3 in response to x-ray damage using the standardized comet assay procedure | Andrej Podlutsky, Robert Williams |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2021-October | Shayna Matson | Scholar | DNA analysis of biofilms in 性欲社 water sources | Devin Drown |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2021-September | Craig Chythlook | Scholar | Rural Water Services Impact on Subsistence | Barbara Johnson, Ellen Lopez |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2021-June | David Harvey | Scholar | Human respiratory health hazards from volcanic ash impacting the village of Nelson Lagoon following the March 2016 Pavlof Volcano eruption; and Reconstructing plant communities through sediment cores in Kodiak, AK | Chris Maio, Nancy Bigelow, graduate student Lindsey Smith, Elisabeth Nadin, Sean Regan, and Ken Severin |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2021-May | Tristan O-Donoghue | URE | Cancer cell lines and their affinity to undergo DNA repair after being exposed to UV and X-ray radiation | Andrej Podlutsky, Robert Williams |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2021-April | Todd Brinkman | Faculty | Wildlife ecology on the North Slope, Interior, and Southeast Alaska, concentrating on large mammals such as deer, moose, caribou and bears. | none |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2021-March | Tony Thompson | Scholar | the study of DNA (eDNA) and fish ecology, developing an eDNA assay that can detect and quantify Arctic Lamprey, Lethenteron camtschaticum, in freshwater aquatic systems | Andres Lopez, Cristina Hansen, Lori Gildehaus |
性欲社 Fairbanks
|
2021-Feb | Michelle Quillin | Scholar | Bioaccumulation of mercury in northern fur seals from St. Paul, Island, Alaska, relative to rookery fidelity; Juvenile Chinook Salmon | Lorrie Rea, Stephanie Crawford, Erik Schoen, Todd Brinkman | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2021-Jan | James McKay | URE | Examination of nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy associated mutations in subtypes of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors; and Computational Modeling of Wild-type and Sleep Related Hyper-motor Epilepsy Associated Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Using Single-Channel Patch Clamp Electrophysiology | Maegan Weltzin/Renate Wackerbauer | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
Year-Month | Name | Role | Research Project | Mentors | Institution |
2020-Dec | Michael Castellini | RL5 Research Core Senior Director | Comparative vertebrate physiology, biochemistry and behavioral adaptations in diving marine mammals and birds, population health and response to climate change | none | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2020-Nov | Brianna Lu | Scholar | Effects of Alaska botanicals as a naturopathic therapy for Parkinson's disease expressed in C. elegans and mice; and Effects of diet and aging on alpha synuclein overexpression in C. elegans | Malabika Maulik, Abel Bult-Ito | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2020-October | Maegen Weltzin | FPP | Rabies glycoprotein interacts with neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in a subtype-selective manner; Microbiology | none | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2020-June, July, August, September | none | none | none | none | none |
2020-May | Ava Parrish | Scholar | Quantitative analysis of popular pre- workout supplements; and Social scaffolding between Milo the Robot and individuals with ASD | Joanne Healy | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2020-April | none | none | none | none | none |
2020-Mar | Shelby McCahon | Scholar | Effects of Photoperiod and Dopamine Disruption on Sleep and Mass Gain | Todd O鈥橦ara, Marianne Lian, Andrew Cyr, Anusha Shankar, Cory Williams, Todd Brinkman | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2020-Feb | none | none | none | none | none |
2020-Jan | Samantha Haines and Sabrina Bishop | UREs | Transcriptomics of BCBL-1 Cell Line Following TPA Treatment | Andrej Podlutsky | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
Year-Month | Name | Role | Research Project | Mentors | Institution |
2019-Dec | Jennie Humphrey | Scholar | Mobilizing Alaskan Genomics: Exploring Alaska's soil microbiome/ Prevalence of PQQ producing bacteria in Alaskan soil; and Chilkat Indian village food assessment in Klukwan, Alaska | Devin Drown, Anne-Lise Ducluzeau, Andrea Bersamin | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2019-Nov | Kristian Rivera | Scholar | Genetic repair dynamics and gene expression in cancerous (HeLa) and healthy (HDFa) cells; and Lipid composition impacts MHCII assembly in Nanodiscs | Andrej Podlutsky, Robert Williams, Tynan Becker, Thomas Kuhn | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2019-Oct | Andrea Bersamin | FPP | Tundra to table: Instruments and education pilot testing; Alaska Native Health and Subsistence | none | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2019-Sept | Noah Khalsa | Scholar | Effects of ocean acidification on calcifying organisms; and Environmental conditions as drivers of fish abundance and distribution in the coastal Arctic | Andres Lopez, Amanda Kelley, Anne-Lise Ducluzeau | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2019-August | Don Larson | GMRA | Ecophysiological parasitology, animal survival techniques, adaptations to winter influence parasites, seasonal variation and overwintering strategies of two trematode parasites | 性欲社 Fairbanks | |
2019-July | Courtney Hill | URE | Validation of Reflection Spectroscopy as a Biomarker for Fruit and Vegetable Intake in a Yup'ik Community | Andrea Bersamin | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2019-June | Stephanie Kennedy | GMRA | Immune pathways and mercury: human C3b and MeHg binding | Todd O'Hara | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2019-May | Andrej Podlutsky | FPP | DNA repair in virally infected cells/Cancer Biology | none | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2019-April | Melissa Clark | Scholar | Binding of hemagglutinin to Major Histocompatibility Complex II(MHC Class II) | Cristina Hansen, Tynen Becker | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2019-Mar | Janessa Newman | Scholar | 1-Stories and Images of Community Strength from a Youth Dog Mushing Program in Rural Alaska. 2-Intergenerational Dialogue Exchange and Action to Facilitate Youth Wellness | Jacques Philip | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2019-Feb | Maggie Castellini | 性欲社 lab technician | The effects of mercury on animals in aquatic environments and the links between environmental, animal, and human health | Todd O'Hara | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2019-Jan | none | none | none | none | none |
Year-Month | Name | Role | Research Project | Mentors | Institution |
2018-Dec | Aline Collin | GMRA | Bridging the gap between in vivo and in vitro research | none | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2018-Nov | Mackenzie Jenkins | URE | Neurochemical pathways of the brainstem involved in adenosine A1 receptor agonistinduced hibernation in the Arctic ground squirrel (Urocitellus paryii) | Kelly Drew, Carla Frare | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2018-Oct | Ana Fiorella Carrasco | Scholar | Using next generation sequencing to detect hepatitis C virus infection in Alaska; and Immunology testing to detect HIV with the 5th generation; and BioPlex HIV Ag-Ab assay: Incidence of false positivity in a low-prevalence population and its effects on the current HIV testing algorithm | Jack Chen | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2018-Sept | Kimi Yatsushiro | GMRA | Examining postpartum depression screening behavior of prenatal care providers | Kendra Campbell | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2018-Aug | Annie Enderle | URE | Birch sap protein analysis and immunotolera nce | Tynan Becker | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2018-July | Devin Drown | FPP | Mobilizing Alaskan genomics with nanopore sequencing/ Biology & Microbiology | Devin Drown | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2018-June | Viktorija Podlutskaya | Scholar | DNA repair in virally infected cells | Andrej Podlutsky | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2018-May | Christina Edwin | Scholar | The effect of organic, range- fed, dietary meat on human protein synthesis; and now Tl'eegho baabe' in Maneelghaadze T'oh (Native foods in Koyukuk Alaska)- a personal journey of reclaiming identity through the making of moose head soup | Charlene Stern | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2018-April | none | none | none | none | none |
2018-Mar | Malabika Maulik | GMRA | Effect of Alaskan blueberry on Parkinson's disease model of C. elegans | Barbara Taylor | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2018-Feb | Mark Velasco | Scholar | The effects of hibernation on the rates of DNA repair in Arctic ground squirrels following DNA damage; and DNA Repair in Arctic Ground Squirrel Fibroblasts | Andrej Podlutsky | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2018-Jan | Joanna Green | RAMP | Arctic microbes: Population abundance and the effects of a warming climate | Linda Nicholas-Figueroa | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
Year-Month | Name | Role | Research Project | Mentors | Institution |
2017-Dec | none | none | none | none | none |
2017-Nov | Jimin "Josh" Kim | Scholar | Yukon Arctic ultra, nutritional liver health; and Functional benefits of weight loss in overweight/obese elderly | Robert Coker | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2017-Oct | Ellen Lopez | Faculty | Community-based participatory research in tribal organizations | none | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2017-Sept | Sheri Coker | GMRA | The influence of organic, wild game versus commercial meat on protein synthesis in humans | Robert Coker | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2017-Aug | Raven Shaw | URE | Understanding the seasonal abundance of HABs near Science Center Fish Hatchery in Sitka, Alaska | Esther Kennedy, Kitty LaBounty, Michael Jamros, Kari Lanphier | UAS Sitka |
2017-July | Thomas Kuhn | Faculty | HIV-1 gp120- induced actin rod formation: A novel mechanism for HIV associated neurodegeneration | none | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2017-June | Elena Vayndorf | Post-Doc | Neuronal aging and neurodegenerative diseases with ancillary interests in nutrition, toxicology and metagenomics | Barbara Taylor | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2017-May | Farimang Touray Jr. | URE | Alaskan Botanicals effects on aging, muscle health and neurodegener ative disease in C. elegans | Barbara Taylor | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2017-April | Jesse Klejka | Scholar | Diesel biodegradation potential of various birch and spruce rhizospheres; and Tumor Neoantigens (+ separate project) novel pathogen on Alaska's North Slope | Andrea Ferrante | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2017-Mar | Paul Bahna | Faculty | Catheter/device-related infection/microbiology | none | UAS Sitka |
2017-Feb | Gabriel Cartagena | Scholar | Cross-cultural comparison of HIV/AIDS survivorship in Alaska and Africa | Thomas Kuhn | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2017-Jan | Andrew Cyr | GMRA | The chemical feeding ecology of Alaskan fish: Mercury accumulation fish consumers, and One Health | Todd O鈥橦ara, Maggie Castellini | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
Year-Month | Name | Role | Research Project | Mentors | Institution |
2016-Dec | Scott Jerome | GMRA | Biomarkers and cognitive function of trained endurance athletes at 64 degrees North | Arleigh Reynolds, Kriya Dunlap | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2016-Nov | Abigail Moran | Scholar | Assessing the strengths and needs of our Alaska informal caregivers and Hepatitis C and G | Jack Chen | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2016-Oct | Lauren Wild | GMRA | Diet and movement of male sperm whales in the Gulf of Alaska | Jan Straley | UAS Sitka |
2016-Sept | Barbara Taylor | Faculty/PI | Aging, using a C elegans model examining neurophysiology and health issues | none | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2016-Aug | Vanessa Santana | Scholar | Effects of caffeine on anxiety-like and compulsive- like behaviors in a non-induced OCD mouse model | Abel Bult-Ito | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2016-July | Abel Bult-Ito | Faculty | The role of CREB signaling in mouse compulsive-like behaviors | none | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2016-June | Rebekah Hare | LRTT | Arctic microbes population abundance and the effects of a warming climate | Linda Nicholas-Figueroa | 性欲社 Fairbanks/Ilisagvik College |
2016-May | Hugh Leonard | GMRA | Best clinical practices focusing on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in psychotherapy for individuals experiencing severe emotion dysregulation, more specifically efficacy and cultural responsiveness of DBT for Alaska Native Communities | Mike Worrall, Kendra Campbell | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2016-April | Courtney Scerbak | GMRA | Focus on intricate relationship between genetics and diet with respect to aging: touch-receptor neuron aging processes within the worm model organism Caenorhabditis elegans | Barbara Taylor | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2016-March | Linda Nicholas-Figueroa | Faculty | Arctic microbes population abundance and the effects of a warming climate | none | Ilisagvik College - Barrow/ Utqiagvik |
2016-Feb | Amanda Grimes | Undergraduate | How specific environmental contaminants, accumulate in fish, the marine mammals that consume them, and the rest of the marine food web | Todd O鈥橦ara | 性欲社 Fairbanks |
2016-Jan | Anne-Lise Ducluzeau | Post-Doc | Research in Alaska investigating microbes in the Arctic Ocean and sea ice | Eric Collins | 性欲社 Fairbanks |