It has almost been 2 years since I joined the Department of Biology as the interim chair. The past year has been an exciting and produc-tive one. I have enjoyed working with all of my colleagues in the Biolo-gy Department to facil-itate this growth and development. Many of our faculty and staff should be commended for their efforts at the department, college and university levels. This newsletter highlights just a little bit of the exciting work in the department.

During the last 12

months, Biology has continued to achieve in many areas, in-cluding re-

search funding, graduate and undergraduate educa-tion, student and faculty recognition, and commu-nity outreach. Our stu-dents, staff and faculty have worked hard over this last year and have been recognized for these efforts. Here are just a few of the notable ac-complishments that have come out of our depart-ment recently. We have won five competitive

grant awards from NIH, NSF and private institu-tions involving work ranging from leukemia and tumor formation to CPG activity and marine organism defenses. The PIs on these grants de-serve commendation and recognition for their ef-forts and successes. We are only 3/4 through this year and we have already surpassed the total grant awards from last year! This is an incredible ac-complishment. During fiscal year 2015, total research funding has al-ready reached $6.5M. Biology again generated the most credit hours at

Letter from the Chair

Recent Biology PhD Graduate Work Featured

Tessa Solomon-Lane, PhD (2015) had her work featured in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Her paper was pub-lished in the July issue, titled “Agonistic reci-procity is associated with reduced male re-productive success within haremic social

networks.” Her research, and her artwork, was hon-ored with the cover, the image is shown at right. Tessa has continued her study with a post-doctoral position in the Depart-ment of Integrative Biolo-gy at UT-Austin.

Student Research Rewarded 1, 6

Faculty Projects Receiving National Attention 2

Biology Tutorial Center and Research Opportunities 3,5, 6

Staff Spotlight 7

Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaboration 7

Faculty Grants and Achievements 8

Inside this issue:

Focus

Volume 2, Issue 1

Summer 2015

Continued on page 5

Dr. Robert Simmons’ work has been on display in a collaboration with Pam Longobardi (in the Col-lege of Art) and the Drifters Project. The exhibition, entitled “The Mes-sage of the Sea” was on display in the Goulandris Museum of Natural History in Athens, Greece (http://www.gnhm.gr/en/). This project was in collaboration with The Hel-lenic Centre for Marine Research and the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development. It seeks to address an issue of world-wide concern, namely marine plas-tic pollution. The inauguration took place over May and June 2015 and the exhibit will be on display through November 2015. In May, Robert was the local ar-rangements chair for the annual conference of the Southeastern Mi-

croscopy Society. He also deliv-ered the keynote address: “Microscopy into Art: Adaptive Interpretation” and was the winner of the annual micrograph competi-tion in the light microscopy divi-sion. Robert’s work also made interna-tional news when, at the Interna-tional Space Development Confer-ence, some of his glasswork was given to Buzz Aldrin. The beads, called honorary Beads of Courage, were handcrafted in the shape and color of the planet Mars, in recogni-tion of Buzz’s work on a program to send humans to Mars. Buzz Aldrin was the second man to walk on the moon in 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission with astro-nauts Neil Armstrong and Michael

Collins. Buzz continues to promote space exploration and travel and his children’s book, “Welcome to Mars- Making a Home on the Red Plant” will be published in September. Colonel Aldrin wore his beads throughout the day, including during his presentation about sending hu-mans to Mars in the near future.

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Dr. Robert Simmons’ Work Makes International, and Interplanetary, Impact

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Dr. Donald Ahearn, Professor Emer-itus in Microbiology, was awarded in recognition for his participation as a consortium co-author on a tech-nical report published last year in the Parenteral Drug Association journal. The report, in part, was an extensive follow-up of studies developed at GSU from about 1998 to 2003 and involved significant contributions from several alumni, particularly the lead by Anil Sawant. Dr. Ahearn received a plaque and tie pin along with the commendation for his ef-forts. Dr. Ahearn is currently work-ing on a published assessment of the role of fungi in the current drug shortage. The report is entitled Technical Report No. 67: Exclusion of Objectionable Microorganisms from Nonsterile Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices and Cosmetics.

Dr. Donald Ahearn Recognized for Leadership Role Biology Department Word Search

Submit your solutions to mnusnbaum1@gsu.edu.

The person with the most solutions will win a prize!

V OLU ME 2, ISSU E 1

University’s online system, Brightspace. Teaching assistant enrollment and performance will be tracked, and this will serve as a model for teaching assistant train-ing in the University System of Georgia.

This August, Dr. Ross and other Biology faculty lead their annual Teaching Assistant workshop to provide new TAs with an inten-sive introduction to teaching tech-niques as well as proper proce-dures for leading a laboratory class. The workshop was 8:30AM

Dr. Kyla Turpin Ross recently received STEM funding to devel-op centralized, online resources for STEM-wide and content-focused teaching assistant train-ing. Completion of online train-ing modules will yield a certifi-cate stating that a graduate stu-dent is eligible and trained to teach in a particular course. This allows graduate students to earn certificates prior to beginning their first semester as a graduate student at Georgia State Universi-ty. Online modules will be dis-seminated through Georgia State

Since June 2014, undergraduate and graduate students have served as tutors in the Department of Biol-ogy Tutorial Center. Tutors are hired, trained, and serve in the cen-ter on a weekly basis, meeting with students, individually or in groups, to cover course content. Tutorial sessions are open to all students enrolled in the introductory biology courses, and are provided on a walk-in basis.

Since opening, the Tutorial Center has experienced tremendous growth and success. Most recently, the De-partment received $10,000 in STEM funding to support the Tuto-rial Center. This allows for in-creased course offerings, hours, and tutoring staff. The Tutorial Center was open this summer, Mondays through Thursdays, 9 AM until 2 PM in Kell 438. There will also be regular hours this fall to support the major courses. Undergraduate and

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STEM Funding Awarded for Department of Biology Tutorial Center

Biology Faculty Receives STEM Award for Graduate Teaching Assistant Training

graduate students interested in serving in the Tutorial Center may visit the Biology website or Department of Biology main office (495 PSC) for an application. Students may also contact Dr. Kyla Ross (kross@gsu.edu) for further information.

-2:00PM on Thursday August 21st in 101 Petit Science Center. The event also concluded at 2:00PM with a live burn demonstration in the PSC loading dock. All graduate students interested in becoming a teaching assistant attended. This year, though, the proceedings were also filmed in order to offer online videos for prospective TAs who could not attend the day-long train-ing.

Pre-Physician Assistant Association Club Inaugural Meeting this Fall

Interested in a medical career? If so, then join the newly created, Pre-Physician Assistant Associa-tion club at Georgia State Uni-versity. We teach students about physician assistant careers, we provide volunteer opportunities for members, and we guide stu-dents through the professional program application process. If you are interested in learning more, or if you are interested in serving as a leader in this club,

please contact Cindy Nguyen (cnguyenhoang1@student.gsu.edu) for more information. Meetings begin in fall 2015. We hope that you will join us. If you are interest-ed in becoming a leader in the group, we will have an initial meeting on August 26th 2-2:45PM in Student Center East– Golden Key Executive Board Room.

Subsequent meetings will take place in Student Center West/ Uni-versity Center. The first meeting

dates will be:

Wednesday, September 9th 2-3PM Room 259/UC 230

Wednesday, October 14th 2-3PM Room 455/UC 404

Wednesday, November 11th 2-3PM

Room 455/UC 404

In May 2015, McGraw Hill Educa-tion published, Anatomy & Physiol-ogy: An Integrative Approach La-boratory Manual, second edition. The interactive pages serve as a stand-alone manual, while also complementing the textbook, McKinley/O’Loughlin/Bidle: Anat-omy & Physiology: An Integrative Approach, second edition. Kyla Turpin Ross, Ph.D., an academic professional in the Department of Biology, has served as an author on both editions of the books. Dr. Ross worked closely with collaborators Dr. Christine Eckel, an associate professor of biology at Carroll Col-lege, and Terri Bidle, a professor at Hagerstown Community College.

This laboratory manual takes a very

focused approach to the laboratory experience, and provides students with tools to make the subject mat-ter more relevant to their own bod-ies and to the world around them. Rather than providing a recap of material from classroom lectures and the main textbook for the course, this laboratory manual is much more of an interactive work-book for students: a “how-to” guide to learning human anatomy and physiology through touch, dissec-tion, observation, experimentation, and critical thinking exercises.

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Second Edition of Anatomy & Physiology Lab Manual Published by Department Faculty

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Biology Faculty Receives Senior Faculty Award

Dr. Ritu Aneja was selected to re-ceive the 2015 College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Senior Facul-ty Award. This award recognized Dr. Aneja’s exemplary record of research and discovery in addition to her many teaching and service contributions to the department and the college. Ritu is currently serv-ing as the Graduate Director as well as the MBD Director in the Biology department. She was presented with a plaque as well as $1000 in professional development funding. Dr. Aneja was recognized at the 2015 College of Arts and Sciences Honors Night celebration as well as a faculty awards presentation, both taking place last April.

Biology Students Travel to Panama for Summer Internship

This summer 12 students from GSU traveled to Bocas del Toro in the Panama Canal. The pro-gram was organized through Volunteers Around the World (www.volunteersaroundtheworld.org) and allowed these stu-dents to experience a medical mission trip. Students were giv-en the opportunity to see the country, but also to work close-ly with physicians and other members of the organization to aid the local community. Stu-dents received hands on experi-ence helping to run mobile clin-ics through survey and intake, triage, doctor shadowing and pharmacy work. Through the efforts of Chandni Patel and other participants in this pro-gram, the Biology Department has implemented the Volunteers Around the World program as an official internship. This al-lows students who participate in this amazing experience to earn

course credit towards the biol-ogy major and graduation. Students can also apply for scholarships through the Study Abroad office to facilitate trav-el by defraying costs.

Biology majors. Anecdotally, theme-based laboratory courses at GSU deeply impact intellectual and professional development of under-graduates. However, formal analy-sis of these outcomes is necessary to establish the actual efficacy of these programs. The study, which will begin in the fall semester, will measure student development in terms of self-directed learning, de-velopment of core competencies and science literacy, and critical thinking skills. Dr. Ulrich is draw-ing on expertise from colleagues in the College of Education to ensure

robust experimental design and an-ticipates results from this study will be published and support the grow-ing Signature Research Experience initiative in the Department of Biol-ogy.

The GSU STEM office recently awarded a mini-grant to Paul Ul-rich, Drew Russell, and Michael Sanderson to analyze student out-comes in a theme-based laboratory course (BIOL4905, Molecular Para-sitology). The project is entitled "Theme-laboratory courses as an effective setting for learning bioin-formatics core competencies", and is supported by a grant of $8000.

Theme-based labs show promise as a cost-effective, scalable format in which course-based undergraduate experiences (CUREs) can be of-fered to a relatively large number of

V OLU ME 2, ISSU E 1 Page 5

Chair’s Letter GSU, with 55,556 credit hours, again beating out Communica-tions at 54,531. Biology contin-ues to be the top producer of both research dollars and credit hours on GSU campus.

Our undergraduates have had many opportunities to participate in research and receive course credit for these opportunities. Thanks to the work of instructors like Paul Ulrich and Matthew Brewer our undergraduate re-search courses include the suc-cessful iGEM competition team and Molecular Parasitology. More than 60 undergraduate stu-dents have been able to partici-pate in theme-based lab courses (BIOL 4905). These efforts in undergraduate education have been recognized through the awarding of numerous competi-tive STEM minigrants.

Like our undergraduate program, our graduate productivity has continued this year. In the past twelve months we have had 28

new PhD students enrolled and 105 new MS students join our programs.

Thanks to the joint efforts of our faculty and staff and continued sup-port from the dean’s and provost’s office, Biology continues to be a strong and successful department at GSU. We should all applaud our efforts and look forward to the fu-ture of this great program.

Yi Pan

Interim Associate Dean

and Interim Chair of Biology

Biology Faculty & Staff Awarded STEM Minigrant for Undergraduate Research-Based Education Project.

harvesting venom directly from snakes. The project is a contin-uation of the award winning work from 2013 and will con-tinue this fall with some new and some returning students. The 2014 team consisted of Countiss Miller, Reza Alavi, Tyler Purvis, An-nie Khowaja, Jasmine Padilla, Shivani Shah, Viktoria Domashchenko, Trung Nguyen, Tre Landry, Julia Dave, Der-rica Burke, Robert Capps and Scott Solis Matthew Brewer served as the faculty advisor with as-sistance from graduate assistant Maruf Hoque. The iGEM project, a Signature Experience for undergraduates, is part of the Biology

Department’s Undergraduate Re-search Center and is supported by tech fee purchases and student ac-tivity fees via the Academic Team Fee Committee.

The GSU iGEM team earned a bronze medal at the 2014 iGEM Jamboree in Boston. This interna-tional competition in synthetic biol-ogy involved 235 research teams from universities around the world. The iGEM project was titled “Utilizing the PGAPZα vector sys-tem to modify and express Mam-balgin in Pichia pastoris”. The team has been working to success-fully insert and purify mambalgin, a protein component of the venom of Dendroaspis polylepis, the Black Mamba. The mambalgin peptide is a powerful analgesic that directly blocks pain transmission in the pe-ripheral nervous system by target-ing acid sensing ion channels within nociceptors beneath the epidermis. The project eventually hopes that recombinant purification of mam-balgin will assist in developing anti-venom without the attendant risk of

GSU iGEM Team Continues to be Productive

In the Fall of 2014 several De-partment of Biology faculty par-ticipated in a program directed by the Office of International Initia-tives. Georgia State University played host to two scholars from Southwest Jiaotong University in China. Dr. Wanjun Wang was mentored by Dr. Frank Cruz and Dr. Jian Wu was mentored by Dr. Matthew Brewer.

During their time in the Faculty Mentoring Program, the scholars participated in various academic and cross-cultural activities with Georgia State faculty and students in and outside the classroom. The scholars observed Biology courses and worked with students in the Synthetic Biology Club/iGEM program. In addition, Dr. Wang

presented their work on “Evolutionary Patterns” and “Species Interactions” to Georgia State students, while also provid-ing information on Southwest Jiaotong University and the city of Chengdu.

Biology Participated in International Faculty Mentoring Program Last Fall

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For more information on the Faculty Mentoring Program, please contact Ms. Kike Ehigia-tor at kehigiator@gsu.edu or

Ms. Chelsea Lonergan at clonergan@gsu.edu.

V OLU ME 2, ISSU E 1 Page 7

Staff Spotlight: Barry Grant

Biology Faculty Work with Math and Chemistry Departments to Develop Pre-Calculus Course for Life Science Majors

vide guidance from the life sci-ence instructors to develop the program to better appeal to life science students. A set of life science oriented questions were developed for incorporation into the MyMathLab program that is central to the instruction-al methodology of courses taught in the Mathematics In-teractive Learning Environment (MILE). Students will progress through their understanding of concepts in the Pre-Calculus program while being exposed to terms and concepts that are central to introductory biology and chemistry courses. The work could not have succeeded

without the steady, detailed work of math graduate student, Jameson Stillwell. He coded the questions developed by the faculty into a for-mat compatible with MyMathLab and organized help documentation for student support. This project, and others like it, will hopefully continue to develop the relation-ships between members of STEM faculty and facilitate educational collaborations to improve student outcome.

During the summer term two facul-ty members from the Biology De-partment engaged in an interdisci-plinary project with members of the Chemistry and Mathematics De-partments at GSU. This project, funded by a STEM minigrant, al-lowed Matt Nusnbaum and Paul Ulrich to work with Dabney Dixon, Markus Germann and Tracy Kerr from Chemistry and Sutandra Sarkar, Rebecca Rizzo, Mark Grinshpon and Jameson Stillwell from Mathematics. Dr. Sarkar is the lead instructor for MATH 1113 (Pre-Calculus), a course that will be offered in the fall semester with a separate track for life science ma-jors and one for math and physics majors. The project sought to pro-

Barry Grant is the Facilities Use Manager in the Department of Biol-ogy and an indispensable member of the team. Barry began working at GSU in 1985 and worked in a number of departments before find-ing his home in the Department of Biology in 1992. Dr. Tai’s appoint-ment as Department Chair took place soon after Barry began with us. At this point, Barry says, there may have been 12-15 faculty in the entire department. He began as as-sistant to Mr. Hugh Robinson to help keep track of accounts, pur-chasing, grants and contracts, dis-bursements, student accounts, etc. At this time the budget for the small department was obviously a lot sim-pler than it is now! This was still a complex job, requiring interaction with many administrative offices at GSU. Barry says, “I have seen the substantial growth of the Biology Department under the direction of Dr. Tai and the faculty who contrib-uted towards its growth as each de-veloped in their own disciplines.”

He credits Mr. Robinson with some of his early professional edu-cation, making sure that he knew how to help the important faculty in Biology. He learned to be dip-lomatic, poised and upfront in his dealings with others. Barry makes an effort to learn the names of eve-ryone he works with, because eve-ryone is equally important. His motto is that there are “No Little I’s and Big U’s.” He prioritizes everyone’s needs and addresses all of them.

Barry knows, in a department like ours, there are many personalities, geographical inheritances, cultural and status differences, etc. He takes on logistical issues, big and small, for the department, includ-ing modifications of labs and of-fices, swipe card access, surplus, electrical/plumbing issues, risk management concerns, safety, ren-ovations, relocations, equipment installations, or any Faculty, Staff, or Student requests. The depart-

ment would clearly not function very smoothly without Barry’s dedicated service and effort. Barry is well-known for his calm demeanor and re-sourcefulness, which allow him to politely, professionally and sincere-ly accomplish each of these tasks. He would like to, “thank GOD for allowing me to have worked with some very special people who I wouldn’t have had the privilege of knowing had I not been given the opportunity to be a part of this Awe-some Department.”

“Respect Demands Respect…

Kindness Begets Kindness…”

The Department of Biology at Georgia State University offers undergraduate

and graduate training programs, and runs research programs coordinated

around 4 main disciplines: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Cellular

Molecular Biology and Physiology, Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, as

well as Neurobiology and Behavior. The department seminar series and jour-

nal clubs highlight current research, and feature distinguished speakers from

all areas of biology and the medical sciences. Community Outreach programs

help bring biological research to the general community. Specialized re-

search centers and advanced research facilities make Georgia State University

a major life sciences research institution.

Department of Biology

Georgia State University

P. O. Box 4010

Atlanta, Georgia 30302-4010

FOCUS

Ritu Aneja- PI

NIH R03- NCI. 2 year grant totaling $140K. Title: Enhancing prognostic power of tumor grade by revisiting Ki67-mitosis relationship.

Deborah Baro- PI

NSF. 4 year grant totaling $680K. Title: Modulatory tone acts through microRNAs to exert a long-term regulatory influence on the opera-tion of a lobster pattern generator. Ap-plication supported by seed grants from MBD and B&B programs.

Recent Faculty Grant Awards

Tel: 404-413-5300

Fax: 404-413-5301

Ritu Aneja r eceived the 2015 Society of American Asian Scientists in Cancer Re-search (SAASCR) award for outstanding contributions in Cancer Research.

Irene Weber r eceived the ‘F1000 Facul-ty Member of the Year Award’ in 2014 for Structural Biology Faculty

Charlie Benson was promoted to the Chair of the Early Career Scientists com-mittee for the Society for the Immuno-therapy of Cancer (SITC)

Recent Faculty Achievements

www.biology.gsu.edu

Charlie Benson- PI

Children’s Leukemia Research Asso-ciation. 1 year grant totaling $30K. Title: Modeling Hit and Run Leuke-mogenesis of Childhood ALL by Human Adenovirus.

Richard Dix- PI

NIH R01- NEI. 5 year grant with first year budget of $370K. Title: Cytomegalovirus retinitis pathogene-sis: mechanisms of retinal tissue de-struction.

Nicole Lopanik- PI

NSF. 4 year grant totaling $520K. Title: Biogeography of a marine defensive microbial symbiont: relative importance of host de-fense.