Graduate Mentors
Sep. 5, 2019
John J. Tanner
Educational background…
Sep. 5, 2019
Michael S. Chapman
Structural Virology – Host Interactions: The US Food & Drug Administration has now approved two gene replacement therapies: Luxturna™ (2017), a treatment for congenital blindness and Zolgenesma™ (2019) for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). 1,500 SMA infants have now been treated for this debilitating and fatal genetic disorder. These, and treatments for hemophilia and other diseases, use recombinant rAAV vectors to deliver DNA to afflicted cells. Our structure-function analyses provide a fundamental understanding of the atomic interactions key to cell entry, trafficking, and immune neutralization. These foundations are needed for the engineering of gene therapy vectors that are efficient and…
Sep. 5, 2019
Xiao Heng
The 5′-cap of HIV-1 incompletely spliced mRNAs undergoes hypermethylation by the host trimethylguanosine synthase, resulting in the formation of a trimethylguanosine (TMG) cap. Disrupting this process markedly diminishes HIV infectivity, as the TMG-cap enables the viral RNA to access a specialized translation pathway, ensuring sustained viral protein synthesis when the host’s global translation pathway is dampened in response to the stress induced by pathogen invasion. Our lab focuses on characterizing the RNA structures and molecular interactions necessary for the cap epigenetic modification, using a variety of biophysical techniques including NMR spectroscopy, cryoEM, small angle X-ray scattering and isothermal titration…
Sep. 3, 2019
Shuangyu Xu
Educational background Courses taught…
March 19, 2019
Ahmed Balboula
Dr. Balboula conducted his Ph.D. research in Japan (funded by Egypt-Japan Ph.D. Joint Supervision Program) and his postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University. Dr. Balboula joined the University of Cambridge in the UK as a Marie Curie Fellow before starting his independent laboratory at the University of Missouri in 2019. Research conducted in the Balboula laboratory employs cutting-edge imaging technologies, transgenic mouse models and genetic approaches to understand the molecular mechanisms regulating mammalian oocyte meiosis and early embryonic development. Dr. Balboula has been recognized with several research awards, including the 2023 SSR Virendra B.
Feb. 19, 2019
Bill Folk
Educational background Courses taught…
Jan. 30, 2019
Rebecca Mott
Educational background…
Nov. 5, 2018
Amanda L. Patterson
Educational background Courses taught…
Feb. 25, 2018
Mary K. Hendrickson
Hendrickson is Professor in Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri and serves as Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security. She is a rural sociologist whose passion is making the world a better place through food. As Director of the ICFS, she focuses on building resilient, food secure communities across Missouri and beyond. Hendrickson has been a leading scholar on consolidation and concentration in the food and agriculture system, the impacts of such a system on farmers, workers and communities, and new ways of conceptualizing policy responses around anti-trust. She is also recognized for her work examining…
Feb. 25, 2018
John Tummons
Educational background Courses taught…