BIOLOGY@UALBANY - University at Albany, SUNYUALBANY NEWSLETTER July 2017 Page 3 Biology Faculty Highlights, 2016-2017 Paul Agris Professor Agris received a Presidential Innovation

BIOLOGY@UALBANY

In This Issue

New Biology Faculty

New Grad Students

What’s happening:

Biology Department

Events, Spring 2017

New Courses

“IBASS” Initiative

Research Image, Kara DeSantis and Mindy Larsen

Message from the Chair I am very happy to introduce the inaugural edition of the Department of Biological Sciences Newsletter. The Department is

very involved in research, undergraduate education and graduate education. The Newsletter gives us an opportunity to share

with you news of the many activities in which our students and faculty members participate. We have welcomed seven new

faculty members over the past three years and three this past year who are featured in New

Biology Faculty. These new faculty members bring us expertise in new areas of biology and in

several cases new approaches to undergraduate education. Our faculty members have been

successful in garnering grants and other awards as reported in “Biology Faculty Highlights.”

We continue to emphasize undergraduate research for our Biology majors. The culmination of

the Undergraduate Research experience is our Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium

held in April. This year we had over 30 undergraduates who presented their research findings

to their peers as well as the graduate students and the faculty of the Department. To facilitate

the transition from high school to college biology, we have created IBASS (Introductory Biology

Academic Support Service) to provide academic support for incoming freshmen. This new

program will commence in Fall 2017 and we are excited for the benefits that it will provide for

our new students. In response to student interest, we have created new courses, “Forensic Science” and “Principles of

Human Disease.” Fourteen new graduate students joined the Department for the 2016-2017 academic year. A number of our

graduate students have been recognized for their excellence in research and teaching.

Highlights of the past year were the inaugural Life at the Interface of Science and Engineering lectures presented by Nobel

Prize winner Dr. Tom Cech. The lectures were endowed by Dr. Marlene Belfort of our Department and Dr. Georges Belfort of

the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at RPI. Dr. Cech presented two fascinating lectures, one at UAlbany

and one at RPI. We look forward to future lectures by Dr. Keith Deisseroth of Stanford University in Fall 2017 and Dr. Frances

Arnold of CalTech in 2018.

We are deeply appreciative of our friends and alumni who have supported the Department and I look forward to updating you

on news of our activities over the next year. Enjoy reading the newsletter.

Newsletter of the Biology Department at the University at Albany July 2017 Vol. 1

People

New Faculty 2

Biology Faculty Highlights 3

Faculty Retirements 6

Undergraduate Spotlight:

Erik Augspurger

8

New Graduate Students 9

Morgan Sammons Interview 13

Events

New Lecture Series: “Life

at the Interface of Science

and Engineering”

10

Undergraduate Research

Symposium

11

Department Highlights

New Microscopy Facility 5

Student Awards 9

New Courses 12

“IBASS” Initiative 12

Donations

Donor Honor Roll 14

Donating to the Biology

Department

15

Inside this issue:

BIOLOGY@UALBANY NEWSLETTER

July 2017

Page 2

Dr. Gervais received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences

from the University at Albany in 2015 where she

studied salivary gland development and disease. She

has been teaching in the department since 2015.

Dr. Gervais offers the second semester of General

Biology, Human Physiology lecture and lab and a new

course, Principles of Human Disease.

Elise Gervais

New Biology Faculty Fall, 2016

The Department of Biological Sciences welcomed three new faculty members in

Fall 2016: two new teaching faculty members (Drs. Linda Mayerhofer and Elise

Gervais) and one assistant professor (Dr. Morgan Sammons).

Linda Meyerhofer

Dr. Mayerhofer received her Ph.D. in 1994 from the

School of Public Health at the University at Albany and

has twenty years of teaching experience.

She is teaching the first semester of General Biology,

Nutrition and Immunology.

Morgan Sammons

Dr. Sammons received his Ph.D. in 2014 from

Vanderbilt University. His research focuses on

chromatin biology and transcriptional enhancers, and he

discusses his work in more detail in a “Question and

Answer” section on page 13.

Biology was first taught at the University at Albany in 1845 (when modern-day SUNY Albany was called

the “New York State Normal College”) under the rubric “Natural Science.”


July 2017

Page 3

Biology Faculty Highlights, 2016-2017

Paul Agris

Professor Agris received a Presidential Innovation Fund for Research and Scholarship award for his

project “Unique Drug resistant Target and Chemical Entity against MRSA and other Drug-resistant Gram

Positive Pathogens.” This grant complements his Department of Defense award on the development of a

novel antibiotic against Gram-positive pathogens. He has also published two research articles, a review

paper and book chapter and has another research article in press.

Marlene Belfort

Professor Belfort received 4-year renewals for two grants from the

NIH. Her project “Self-Splicing Inteins: Function, Evolution,

Application” is now funded through years 27-30 and “Intron Dy-

namics in Bacteria” for years 29-32. Along with Pan Li and Gaby

Fuchs, she received an administrative supplement from NIH to the

grant, “Intron Dynamics in Bacteria”, for purchase of a TIRF

microscope for single-molecule analysis. Her group published two research articles

and four review papers.

Dr. Belfort also served on NIH Council of Councils and on the Academic Research

Enhancement Award in genetics and molecular mechanisms Review Panel.

Several Belfort lab members have also received recognition for their

accomplishments this year: Christopher Lennon was awarded a 2-year NRSA Post-

doctoral Fellowship from the NIH. Cathleen Green, a Ph.D. student, was the recipient of the Great Dane Award, the

President's Award for Leadership. Finally, undergraduate researcher David Bunn was selected to the Outstanding Senior

Award, a President’s Award for Leadership and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence.

Mindy Larsen

Associate Professor Larsen’s group published three research articles and one book chapter this past aca-

demic year. In a paper that was published in Development, former Ph.D. student Hae Ryong Kwon

demonstrated that endothelial cells in the vasculature participate in elaboration of salivary gland structure

during embryonic development. Her senior Ph.D. student, Kara DeSantis, received an award for Best

Poster at the 2017 Gordon Research Conference: Salivary Glands and Exocrine Secretion for her work

on retinoid signaling in progenitor cells during embryonic development.

Belfort Lab members receiving

recognition for their

accomplishments this year:

Christopher Lennon: Awarded 2-

year NRSA Postdoctoral

Fellowship from the NIH

Cathleen Green: Recipient of the

Great Dane Award, the

President's Award for Leadership

David Bunn: Outstanding Senior

Award, a President’s Award for

Leadership and the Chancellor’s

Award for Excellence.

Greg Lnenicka

Professor Lnenicka has published two research articles, the first in

Pfluegers Archiv and the second is the cover article in the May 2017

issue of the journal Synapse (shown at right).

Lnenicka graphic illustration, cover of

the Journal Synapse, May 2017


July 2017

Page 4

Biology Faculty Highlights, 2016-2017 (cont’d)

Cara Pager

Assistant Professor Cara Pager’s group had two publications this past year. Jason Biegel, a post-doctoral

researcher in the Pager lab, was lead author on a research article in Virology. Dr. Pager’s group also pub-

lished a review article about Hepatitis C virus in the Journal of Virology.

Annalisa Scimemi

Assistant Professor Scimemi received an NSF grant for her

project “Glutamate Transporter Control of Excitation and Inhibition

in the Striatum.” Animals are able to learn new motor skills and

convert them into motor habits, so the goal of this project is to

determine how transporters for glutamate, the main excitatory

neurotransmitter in the brain, ensure proper execution of habitual actions.

Her group also published a research article in Scientific Reports entitled “PAR1 Acti-

vation Induces Rapid Changes in Glutamate uptake and astrocyte morphology.”

Ben Szaro

Professor Szaro received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities for

2016-17. He was invited to speak at the Gordon Conference on Intermediate Filaments this past year to

give a talk on the work he published last Spring with Ph.D. student Chen Wang in the Journal of Cell Sci-

ence describing a novel role for intron splicing in the post-transcriptional regulation of neurofilament gene

expression.

He published another paper with two other Ph.D. students, Erica Hutchins and Jamie Belrose, describing a novel role for the

nuclear localization signal in regulating trafficking and stability of hnRNP K mRNP complexes in vivo in the journal Biochemi-

cal and Biophysical Research Communications, 2016.

His lab also received two seed money grants from the New York State Department of Health, Spinal Cord Injury Research

Board to carry out pilot studies on the genetic and epigenetic underpinnings of successful CNS axon regeneration in

Xenopus.

Prashanth Rangan

Assistant Professor Rangan’s group published a research article

in Nature Communications and a book chapter in

Signaling-mediated Control of Cell Division.

Several of his graduate students were recognized for their work

(listed at right).

Rangan Graduate Students

recognized for their work:

Maitreyi Upadhyay: Received

Glenn/AFAR Scholarship for

Research in Biology of Aging;

won Best Oral Presentation at

the 2016 UAlbany Life Sciences

Research Symposium.

Pooja Flora: Received David

Shub Award for Excellence in

RNA; won Best Oral Presentation

at Life Sciences Research

Symposium and 2017 RNA

Symposium.

Alicia McCarthy: Featured in

WAMC radio “Academic Minute”

segment, “Fruit Flies offer

Fertility Clues.”


July, 2017

Page 5

Biological Imaging: New Microscopy Facility

In a blackened room in the Biological Sciences Imaging Facility in the basement of the Biology building stands a new micro-

scope. Red and green laser beams cut through the air, projecting strange shadows on the wall. Unlike typical microscopes,

the over $10,000 laser lines touch the surface of a slide and bounce off without entering, giving this microscope its name:

total internal reflection fluorescence

(TIRF) microscope.

Samples are illuminated by an evanes-

cent wave, a fast decaying field that verti-

cally enters the slide. The wave is weak

and penetrates only 100-200 nm from

surface, rendering very little fluorescence

and even less background. With a photon

counting detector or better yet, a high

end camera named Ultra 888 (part of our

setup), single fluorophores can be pin-

pointed by only a few hundred photons,

each from a nearly ideal “dark” back-

ground.

One can take advantage of this super

high resolution to watch photobleaching

of a single fluorophore or Förster Reso-

nance Energy Transfer (FRET) between

a pair of dyes in proximity.

Since the 1980s, there are a plethora of reports that show how scientists apply this technique to watch molecular motions

with nanometer precision in real time on a slide and inside cells. Thanks to an NIH supplementary grant to Professor Marlene

Belfort, the Department of Biological Sciences now has a TIRF microscope. For those who are interested in using this micro-

scope for their research, Assistant Professor Gaby Fuchs is available for consulting and instrument training.

You can find out more information about the Biology Department’s imaging facilities at

http://www.albany.edu/biology/research/biological_imaging/main.shtml

Biology Faculty Highlights, 2016-2017 (cont’d)

Ing-Nang Wang

Associate Professor Ing-Nang Wang published a research article “Phylogeography and Coevolution of

Bamboo Mosaic Virus and Its Associated Satellite RNA” in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.


July 2017

Page 6

Faculty Retirements, 2017

The past year was marked with the retirement of several UAlbany Biology Department professors. All were (and are)

recognized experts in their respective fields with distinguished research and teaching careers in biology, and each contribut-

ed in important ways to the growth and development of our department.

Thomas Caraco

Dr. Caraco joined the Biology Department faculty in 1984 and focused on the application of statistical

modeling to population biology. Using this research he became the university’s faculty expert on spatially

-detailed population dynamics as it would be used to understand the economic impacts of invasive

species.

Gary Kleppel

Dr. Kleppel joined the Biology Department faculty in 2000 and focused on conservation policy, land use

patterns and their effect on ecosystems, and agricultural ecology and sustainable agriculture (as detailed

in his most recent book, “The Emergent Agriculture”).

George Robinson

Dr. Robinson joined the Biology Department in 1993 and taught courses in biodiversity, conservation,

restoration ecology, plant ecology, and biogeography. He also served outside of the university as an

environmental expert and advocate.

Richard Zitomer

Dr. Zitomer joined the Biology Department in 1975 and served as a teacher, researcher, and department

chair. He would be internationally recognized as one of the leading experts in genetics studies and

would chair the department during an exciting period of growth and development.

Faculty Obituary

Albert Millis

Dr. Albert Millis died in Kajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India on April 20, 2016. He was 74. Dr. Millis was a

Professor of Biological Sciences and the Scientific Director of Life Sciences at SUNY Albany. He was a

deeply committed father, grandfather, and mentor of graduate students.


July 2017

Page 7

Professor John Mackiewicz’s Retirement

Fifty-Six Years of Service: 1961 - 2017

Dr. Mackiewicz joined the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences in

1961. In 1973 he was awarded the rank of Distinguished Teaching Professor and

holds the distinction of being the first professor at the University at Albany to have

“Distinguished” added to his rank.

During his career he taught 15 separate courses. While he formally retired in

2002, for over a decade he has served the department as an emeritus faculty

member and continued to teach a course on “Parasitic Diseases and Human

Welfare.”

Throughout his career Professor

Mackiewicz continued to investi-

gate the morphology, systemat-

ics, zoogeography, host-parasite

relationships, biology and evolu-

tion of the Caryophylidea, intesti-

nal non-segmented cestode par-

asites of freshwater fish.

For many years he has been the

world authority on Caryophylid tapeworms, having written numerous papers on

the topic (including two basic taxonomic keys of the species and two extensive

reviews of the group). He has described new taxa of Caryophylid tapeworms —

one new family, eleven new genera, and twenty-one new species. In recognition

of this level of expertise, five species of Cestodes and two species of Nematoda

have been named after him.

He has actively collaborated with

colleagues in Russia, Poland, the

Czech Republic, and the Slovak Re-

public on systematics, chromosomes

and ultrastructure, chiefly vitellogene-

sis, and segmented and non-

segmented tapeworms.

He has authored over 80 scientific

publications in parasitology, in addition

to several opinion pieces related to his

avocation, fly fishing.


July 2017

Page 8

Biology Undergraduate Spotlight, Class of 2017

Erik Augspurger

A Capital Region native, Erik Augsberger (2017) is one of the

Biology Department's most accomplished undergraduate

students, maintaining a 4.00 GPA in Biology and a 3.97 cu-

mulative GPA and appearing on the Dean's List throughout

his college career.

Erik received the

2017 President

Award for Leader-

ship—Outstanding

Senior Award and is

a member of Phi

Beta Kappa, the

Presidential Honors

Society, Omicron

Delta Kappa—The National Leadership Honor Society and Tri Beta—The National

Biological Honor Society. Community is very important to Erik; during his under-

graduate career he served his Niskayuna community as a volunteer firefighter and

EMT and was a Volunteer Patient’s Aide at St. Peter’s Hospital.

Erik's successful undergraduate experience exemplifies the Biology Department's balanced program of classroom learning

with hands-on involvement in ongoing Life Sciences research.

"Becoming a Research Assistant on campus as an undergraduate has been an im-

mensely rewarding experience and I am extremely grateful for the comprehensive

and state-of-the-art research program that the Biology Department offers, not the

least of which is the research faculty, staff and students that I have had the pleasure

of working with on a collaborative and regular basis," Erik wrote in describing his

UAlbany Biology experience.

Working one-on-one with research faculty in the department has given him the

chance to develop and exercise his analytical skills, while at the same time he has

taken advantage of the opportunities to present his research at the multiple research

conferences hosted by the University to gain experience in developing his written and

oral communication skills.

He writes “I’ve been fortunate to be given the opportunity to present my research to both technical and nontechnical audi-

ences at multiple research conferences offered by UAlbany, which has enhanced my public speaking and oral communica-

tion skills.”

Following graduation, Erik will continue his volunteer activities while taking a gap year. He plans to apply to medical school

next year with the goal of practicing in the field of Sports Medicine.

“I have worked on assay

development for biomedical

and environmental research

using DNA nanotechnology,

and recently I’ve had the

pleasure to work with a team

on research projects to design

systems that detect toxic metal

ions and cancer and disease

biomarkers.”


July 2017

Page 9

David A. Shub Award for Excellence in RNA Science Pooja Flora

Peter S. Marfey Book Award Justin Waldern

Donald LaFrancois Teaching Award Rachel Netzband

Dustin Trufanoff

Biology Department Graduate Travel Awards, Fall 2016 Zeinab Farajallah Hosseini

Elizabeth Peterson

Andrew Powers

Biology Department Graduate Travel Awards, Spring 2016 Patrick Blatt

Rupa Choudhary

Jennifer Lin

Ankana Naik

Rachel Netzband

Amber Altrieth, MCDN

New Graduate Students, 2016-2017

Shane Breznak, MCDN

Emily Caboot, BCP

Izaac Cooper, BCP

Brian Dagley, BCP

Modhurika De, MCDN

Alan Eapen, BCP

Thomas Hart, EEB

Yen-Hua Huang, EEB

Ethan LaFontaine,

MCDN

John McCauley, MCDN

Ayanna Roper, Forensic Biology

Nicole Smith, BCP

Michelle Vedder-Drew,

BCP


July 2017

Page 10

New Lecture Series: “Life at the Interface of Science

and Engineering”

The first female Biology teacher at the University at Albany was Miss E. Helen Hannas, appointed in

1890. Ms. Hannas was an 1884 graduate of UAlbany (then called the “New York State Normal

School”) and would teach courses in “Natural Sciences” in the department of “Natural Philosophy.”

The inaugural speaker

for this lecture series

was Nobel Laureate

Thomas Cech,

Distinguished Professor,

University of Colorado

Boulder; Director,

University of Colorado

BioFrontiers Institute;

and Investigator,

Howard Hughes Medical

Institute, who presented

seminars over two days

to the UAlbany and RPI

communities.

Dr. Cech’s seminar at the University at Albany on October 25, 2016 was titled, “Long Noncoding RNAs and Epigenetic Gene

Silencing”. His talk “CRISPR Genome Engineering Gives New Insights about Telomerase and its Role in Cancer” was pre-

sented at RPI on October 26, 2017. Both seminars were standing room only and were very well received.

This past Fall, the Department of Biological Sciences

launched the “Life at the Interface of Science and Engi-

neering” lecture series. The collaborative seminar series

was generously endowed by Dr. Marlene Belfort, Distin-

guished Professor from the Department of Biological Sci-

ences at the University at Albany and Dr. Georges Belfort,

Institute Professor from the Department of Chemical and

Biological Engineering at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti-

tute. The Belforts’ idea was to bring world-renowned ex-

perts to the University at Albany and RPI communities to

address questions that bridge the Life Sciences and Engi-

neering fields and inspire future collaborations.

Events: The 34th Annual Undergraduate

Research Symposium

April 28, 2017

On April 28th, the University at Albany's Biology Department held its

34th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium where

undergraduates get the opportunity to experience presenting their

research in the types of competitive poster sessions and oral

presentations common in the scientific community. The annual

spring research symposia for undergraduates represent one of the

department's academic traditions going back for over three

decades. Undergraduate researchers presented posters in the lobby of the D'Ambra Auditorium and interacted one-on-one

with faculty, staff, graduate students and fellow undergraduates to describe their research, methodologies, and findings;

there were also opportunities to present their research in a typical seminar setting to faculty, staff, and students in the

auditorium itself.

Brittany Egnot “Novel Technologies for Tracking Cell Migration”

Tyler Pocchiair “RNA Helicases Involved In Ribosome Biogenesis Are Necessary For Germline Maintenance

Adam Stabell Salivary Gland Regeneration by Manipulation of Retinoic Acid Receptor Function”

Winners of the Oral Presentation Awards

Oluwatomi Alade “Infection with Poliovirus Induces Modification of RPS25”

Elizabet Genis “Studying GnRH-I Neuronal Migration in Disrupted SHH Signaling Path-way in Gli3xt/xt mutants”

Oksana Levchenko “DNA Nanoswitches: Towards Low-Cost Detection of Viral RNA”

Q. Wilson “Postsynaptic Regulation ofSynaptic Transmission at the Drosophila Neuromuscular Junction”

Winners of the Poster Presentation Awards

Chibuokem Ikwuazom “Transcription Regulation of the dksA P3 promoter”

Winner of the Glenn L. Bumpus Award

Undergraduate students find that participating in the Research Symposium represents one of the

most challenging but ultimately useful parts of their education in UAlbany’s Biology program, and

this year’s Symposium met with an enthusiastic reception.


July 2017

Page 11


July 2017

Page 12

Coming Fall 2017: IBASS

We are very excited to announce that in the Fall 2017 semester, the Biology department will be opening the doors of a new

program and center called the “Introductory Biology Academic Support Service” or IBASS. IBASS will provide academic sup-

port in many forms (tutoring, workshops, space for peer study groups, additional office hours with staff, and open use of sev-

eral computer stations and textbooks) to our introductory biology students. The room on the second floor (BIO253) is under

‘construction’ this summer as we accumulate the materials and furniture needed for the space, set up computer work sta-

tions, and decorate with some upper-level student posters. Stop in when the door is open to see our progress!

Over the summer, Ms. Erin Allen (a graduate student working with Dr. George Robinson) will be working with Dr. Linda May-

erhofer and Dr. Elise Gervais (both instructors of the introductory biology classes, ABIO 130 and ABIO 131 respectively) to

develop workshops on time management, study skills for biology courses, and note taking skills. Ms. Allen has a master’s in

education along with a strong science background and passion for biology; she will be an excellent resource for the introduc-

tory biology students and we are excited to welcome her to the Biology Department!

Starting the first week of classes, Ms. Allen will offer these workshops on a regular basis, as well as hosting walk-in hours for

help with content or homework and offer several regularly scheduled small group tutoring sessions. The open IBASS center

will have a small group meeting table and ample white board space for groups of students to come study together as well as

textbooks and computer stations available for student use anytime the center is open. We look forward to seeing a busy

study center where students can congregate or just stop in to ask for help with some difficult content. Our hope is that the

IBASS center will supplement faculty office hours and help students that are struggling with the material feel comfortable

asking for help! See you in the fall!

“ABIO175: Forensic Science Investigation” is a non-majors course that fulfills

the University’s Natural Sciences General Education requirement. This

course introduces students to forensic science with a focus on the services

provided by today’s multidisciplinary crime laboratories. Students learn about

the general history of forensic science, ethics, law, quality assurance, crime scene processing, analysis of physical evidence,

chemistry, trace evidence, DNA analysis, patterned evidence, mass disasters and digital forensics. The course will be of-

fered again in Fall 2017.

New Undergraduate Courses

ABIO175: Forensic Science Investigation

“ABIO 397: Topics in Biology: Principles of Human Disease” is taught by one

of our new lecturers, Dr. Elise Gervais. In this course, students investigate

common and some not-so-common diseases that we hear about frequently.

They delve into causes, symptoms and treatments, but most importantly, the pathophysiology of each disease – what is

going on at the cellular level to cause the disease state and symptoms. At the end of the semester, the students take over in

a series of poster sessions and each present on a disease they have been researching. This course will be offered each

Spring semester.

ABIO397: Topics in Biology: Principles of

Human Disease

(The Introductory Biology Academic Support Service)


July 2017

Page 13

The Department of Biological Sciences welcomes its newest Assistant Professor, Dr. Morgan Sammons. Morgan received his Ph.D. in Biology from Vanderbilt University and then went on to a postdoctoral position the laboratory of Dr. Shelley Berger in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. His postdoctoral work explored the primary mechanisms used by healthy cells to prevent cancer development and how these processes are subverted during tumorigenesis.

Dr. Sammons was hired in our Systems Biology search and his research group uses molecular, genomic and computational

approaches to investigate the tumor suppressor protein p53. He already has a very active research group here in the Life Sciences Research Building with a postdoctoral associate, a Ph.D. student, rotation students and several undergraduate researchers. We sat down with Morgan to ask him about his research, teaching and life.

Interview: Morgan Sammons

I am very interested in understanding how the master tumor suppressor, p53, works to protect us from cancer. As a lab, we are specifically investigating how genetic and epigenetic variation across species and between individuals affects the ability to prevent tumors. We also investigate why certain tissues are more likely than others to become cancerous. The lab bridges traditional molecular and genetic approaches with cutting-edge genomics and computational biology approaches to try to tackle these interesting questions.

“Overall, I believe

our work will help

the larger

community

understand how to

better treat

cancer.”

Please tell us about your research program.

What are the applications (or implications) of your research findings?

Overall, I believe our work will help the larger community understand how to better treat cancer based on the patient’s

own genome and epigenome.

What advice would you give to new graduate students?

Join my lab! But really, graduate school is difficult and can occasionally be overwhelming, so take the time to take

care of yourself. There is nothing wrong with planning time away from the lab to travel or just unwind. In the long run,

time away from lab and classes (either physically or mentally) will help you be a better scientist.

What do you look for in an undergraduate student who wants to work in your lab?

I’m looking for undergraduate researchers that are genuinely interested in learning how to be a scientist. Success in

the classroom is not a great predictor of success in the lab. A good work ethic, attention to detail, and a willingness to

fail (and persist) are key indicators of success in the lab.

Tell us about the course you will be teaching in the fall.

I will be teaching ABIO329: Genetics of Human Disease, which I hope will be a great course for all biology majors and

those interested in the medical professions. The class will focus on how simple and complex genetic differences can

have profound effects on human health. We will also try to understand how technology helps us diagnose and treat

human genetic disorders, like cancer. I’m also acting as a faculty mentor for World of Biology, a really exciting program

for first-year students.

The Department of Biology thanks all of its donors for their generous support. The following donors have contributed to the

University at Albany’s Department of Biology from 2016 to 2017.

Honor Roll of Donors


July 2017

Page 14

In 1965 a Ph.D. was offered in Biology for the first time at UAlbany. The first Ph.D. was granted to Joseph T.

Tupper in 1970 with his dissertation “Microelectrode Studies on the Electrical Properties of Isolated Mito-

chondrial Membranes.”

Mrs. Kris A. Albrecht ('82) Mr. Craig L. Frank ('84) Dr. Joseph R. Lapinski ('87) Mr. Albert S. Shumskis ('79)

Mr. Jason M. Altman ('09) Mr. Gary B. Freeman ('69) Ms. Brandi M. Lewis ('15) Ms. Annamaria Shutts ('76)

Ms. Rheem F. Anvery ('07) Dr. Margaret S. Friar ('94) Ms. Laura Liebeck-Smith Mr. Jonathan T. Simon ('94)

Mrs. Maria Ashley Ms. Janet Goodrich ('45) Mr. Kenneth C. Meese ('13) Ms. Linda L. Stevens ('69)

Mr. Drew R. Barber ('12) Dr. Donald J. Gruol ('64) Dr. Neal A. Mesnick ('91) Dr. Alan W. Streigold ('79)

Ms. Daryl C. Bart ('89) Dr. Donna Gruol ('65) Dr. Rina Mishra Dr. Ben G. Szaro

Mr. Michael I. Belenko ('75) Ms. Megan A. Gura ('15) Dr. Marian J. Mudar ('73) Mrs. Alina M. Tamburello

Mr. Carl Billhardt Ms. Jane A. Harkinson ('71) Ms. Marie Nersesian ('65) Mr. Ed Zandro M. Taroc ('15)

Ms. Barbara Billhardt ('64) Mr. Brian R. Harris ('82) Mr. Thomas Nevins Ms. Bonnie Taylor

Dr. Jeremy M. Boss ('77) Mr. Erik M. Harris ('90) Ms. Soyang K. Olivier ('17) Ms. Olda Thomas

Dr. Valerie C. Boss ('78) Ms. Ruth Heidi ('87) Dr. Steven Ostrove ('69) Dr. David Tieman

Mr. Chad M. Boulrice Dr. Steven Hoover ('60) Ms. Itohan N. Otasowie ('09) Dr. John J. Toole ('75)

Mr. James V. Callahan ('00) Dr. Gary D. Josephson ('86) Ms. Jacqueline Padilla-DiMirco Mr. William J. Volk

Ms. Sally A. D'Agostino ('73) Dr. Warren S. Kaggen ('79) Dr. Saroj Pani Mrs. Janice Volk

Mrs. Kathryn A. Davino ('79) Mr. Christopher Kapetanos Ms. Diane Peek ('67) Mr. William W. Vollmer ('11)

Dr. William L. Davis ('85) Ms. Manjit Kaur Dr. Vincent E. Pierce ('74) Ms. Amy L. Wilsey ('89)

Dr. Mark S. DeNunzio ('75) Mr. David B. Kay ('77) Mr. Scott A. Quiceno ('11) Mrs. Joyce I. Witting ('85)

Mr. Michael DiMirco Mrs. Patricia Kellie ('65) Ms. Barbara A. Ramsbottom ('78) Dr. Cynthia F. Wright ('84)

Mr. Dale Fanning Dr. Lynn G. Kleina ('81) Dr. Margaret G. Redinbaugh ('77) Ms. Princia H. Wu ('77)

Ms. Helen Fanning Ms. Kay E. Klem ('84) Ms. Ruth Scheuermann-Rau ('87) Dr. Daniel L. Wulff

Ms. Wendy R. Fast Ms. Susan Kormanik ('75) Dr. John T. Schmidt Ms. Patricia Zelazny ('61)

Mr. Phil Francis Dr. Gerald B. Koudelka ('79) Ms. Amy E. Shimberg ('78) Mr. Vladimir S. Zinsou ('16)

Mrs. Donna Francis Mr. Robert D. Kuryluk ('73) Dr. Michael Shimberg

Donate to the Biology Department


July 2017

Page 15

By giving to the Biology Department, you can help us:

Attract and Recruit Distinguished Faculty

Provide Scholarships for Deserving Students

Enhance our Seminar Series

Increase Undergraduate Research Participation

Enrich Student Experiences

Support Major New Initiatives

Purchase or Enhance Teaching and Research Technology

In the ever-more-rapidly moving field of science, the Biology Program at SUNY Albany is continually evolving to meet the needs of our society.

Contact Us

Interested in a career in

Biology? Give us a call for

more information or visit

our website.

Department of

Biological Sciences

University at Albany

1400 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12222

(518) 442-4300

[email protected]

Visit us on the web at

www.ualbany.edu/biology

UAlbany Biology In The News UAlbany Biology faculty and students are continuously in the forefront of all as-

pects of the life sciences, and life science professionals, researchers, alumni, cur-

rent students and prospective students can keep up to date on the department

through our website, our Facebook page, and our Twitter feed:

Biology Department

University at Albany

1400 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12222

PLACE STAMP HERE

The Science of Today is the Technology of Tomorrow

Got information? Are you an alumnus/alumna with interesting news? A faculty, staff member, or

student with news or information that would be of interest to the UAlbany Biology

community?

Send that information (including photos, links, and any other relevant info) to our

departmental email address, [email protected]

http://www.albany.edu/biology

https://twitter.com/UAlbanyBiology

https://www.facebook.com/UAlbanyBiologyGraduateProgram

BIOLOGY@UALBANY - University at Albany, SUNYUALBANY NEWSLETTER July 2017 Page 3 Biology Faculty Highlights, 2016-2017 Paul Agris Professor Agris received a Presidential Innovation

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