ISU Biomedical Research Institute Members
Current IBRI Graduate Students
BEARDEN LAB (BIOS)
Richard Beards, PhD candidate
INBRE Research Fellow
Research Focus: Atherosclerosis and vascular inflammation
BHUSHAN LAB (BPSCI)
Vikas Sedhev, PhD candidate
John O. Wallace Memorial Research Assistant
Research Focus: Biochanin-A and Manganese Block Progression of HER Positive Breast Cancer Cells.
Vikas Bardwaj, PhD candidate
INBRE Research Fellow
Research Focus: Effects of isoflavones and glycolytic inhibitors on pancreatic and brain tumor cells proliferation and survival.
Wajiha Ali, MS Candidate
ISU Graduate Teaching Assistant
Research Focus: Effects of combined anticancer drugs and tyrosine kinase inhibitors on glioblastoma cells.
BRANDON LAB (BIOS)
Tiffany Whitney, PhD candidate
INBRE Research Fellow
Research Focus: Gene expression defining Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) characteristics by serial analysis of gene expression
DANIELS LAB (BPSCI)
Kalyan Gangavarapu, PhD candidate
INBRE Research Fellow
Research Focus: Generation and characterization of mechanisms of dexamethasone resistance in an IL6-dependent myeloma cell line.
Tuoen Liu, PhD candidate
ISU Graduate Teaching Assistant
Research Focus: Investigations into the multiple role of HSPa8 gene/HSC70 in regulation of cancer cellular phenotype
Vrushali Agharkar, MS candidate
NSF Research Assistant
Research Focus: In vitro cellular toxicity of nanomaterials
Ashwini Saini, MS candidate
ISU Graduate Teaching Assistant
Research Focus: Role of the HSPa8 gene in cancer pharmacology and mechanisms of methotrexate resistance
GROOME LAB (BIOS)
Nishant Mohan, MS Candidate
INBRE Research Fellow
Research Focus: My research is related with structure and function
of voltage gated sodium ion channels present in skeletal muscle.
Sodium channels allow the inward flow of sodium ions during rising
phase of action potential. These are transmembrane protein and
comprised of four domains each having a specific role in activation,
fast inactivation and deactivation of channels. My studies are
focused on immobilization of fourth segments of each domain during
fast inactivation of channels and structural determinant of
activation, fast inactivation and deactivation.
KELCHNER LAB (BIOS)
Chang Liu, MS Candidate
ISU Graduate Teaching Assistant
Research Focus: Chang is using phylogenetic methods to decipher polyploidy and species origins in the Australian plant genus Myoporum. She is studying nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequence evolution from seven genetic loci.
Shannalee Hansen, BS/MS Candidate
NSF Research Assistant
Research Focus: Shannalee is conducting a comparative study of the complete set of single-copy group II introns from a chloroplast genome. She is predicting RNA secondary structures, comparing rates of sequence evolution, and mapping hotspots for mutational change across introns.
LAI LAB (BPSCI)
Vikas Dukhande, PhD candidate
INBRE Research Fellow
Research Focus: L-Buthionine[S,R]-sulfoximine- and ethacrynic acid-mediated cell death mechanisms in SK-N-SH cells and neuroprotection by astrocytes, antioxidants, and Bcl-2 overexpression.
Nisha Rizvi, M.S. candidate
Research focus: Her research interest is in the area of molecular and metabolic mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration. Her studies involve elucidation of mechanisms related to mitochondrial-nuclear genomic communication, antioxidants and cell death, the spin-offs of these and related studies that have direct relevance to anti-cancer drug discovery, especially in relation to brain and pancreatic tumors because of the important roles metabolism plays in such tumors. Her research encompasses the regulation of expression of metabolic and antioxidant enzyme proteins in astrocytoma and neuroblastoma cells and in such cells when their mitochondrial DNA is depleted.
LEUNG LAB (ENGINEERING)
Carmen Sandra Bartolin Ayala, MS candidate
NSF Research Assistant
Research Focus: Transport of Macromolecules through Nanopore Structures
MATOCQ LAB (BIOS)
Quinn Shurtliff, PhD candidate
INBRE Research Fellow and NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement grant
Research Focus: My research integrates genetic, environmental, and behavioral components to study a variety of evolutionary mechanisms in a recently described hybrid zone between two woodrat species within the genus Neotoma.
RASMUSSEN LAB
Alexa Wakley is in the M.S.program in Experimental Psychology, also with an undergraduate major in Psychology from ISU. Alexa has worked in our lab for just under three years. She is defending her thesis this semester (Fall 2007), which involves examining how cannabinoids affect food reinforcement in gestationally undernourished rats. She has co-authored five posters presented at regional and international meetings, and is a co-author on a publication under review. Alexa is in the process of applying to several major research institutions to enter a Ph.D. program in behavioral pharmacology with an emphasis in neuroscience.
Shilo Smith is in the M.S.program in Experimental Psychology, also with an undergraduate major in Psychology. She has worked in our lab for about three years. Shilo currently is working on her thesis, which involves examining how opioids affect exercise reinforcement in gestationally undernourished rats. She plans to defend in Spring 2008. Shilo has co-authored five posters presented at regional and international meetings, and is a co-author on a publication under review.
RODNICK LAB (BIOS)
Tracy Becker, PhD candidate
INBRE Research Fellow
Research Focus: Regulation of glucose uptake and glucose transporters in the rainbow trout.
SELVAGE LAB (BPSCI)
Yu Li, PhD candidate
ISU Graduate Teaching Assistant
Research Focus: Role of estradiol in CRF-mediated HPA responses to alcohol administration.
John Larkin, MS candidate
ISU Graduate Teaching Assistant
Research Focus: Role of estradiol in CRF-mediated HPA responses to alcohol administration.
SHERIDAN LAB (BIOS)
Vannesa Tanner, PhD candidate
INBRE Research Fellow
Research Focus:
THOMAS LAB (BIOS)
Kelsey Metzer
Research focus:
Peter Halloc, PhD candidate
Research focus: