Mentors & Committees
Mentors | College Guidance Group | Institutional Steering Committee
Researchers other than the investigators
are participating in a variety of roles to support the aims of the grant: As mentors;
Senior faculty from the Medical University of South Carolina and other institutions
consult with the investigators; The College Guidance Group facilitates
communication among the key campus participants and administers day-to-day
interactions at the institutional level; the Institutional Steering Committee (ISC)
comprised of four external members with expertise in research funding reviews
the INBRE goals and progress.
Mentors
Each investigator is to develop a career plan that has as a key milestone the submission of an NIH grant. Senior faculty from the Medical University of South Carolina and other institutions serve as mentors for the investigators.
Dr. Tien Hsu of the Medical University of South Carolina
Dr. Hsu is serving as mentor to Dr. Agnes Ayme-Southgate.
Dr. Hsu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory
Medicine at the Hollings Cancer Center with an excellent track record of
NIH funding. Dr. Hsu uses the Drosophila system to study vascular
and epithelial development, and he has, therefore, expertise in all the
techniques used in the Dr. Ayme-Southgate’s research. He also has
an embryo injection facility, which he has made available. The grant-proposed
research will enable Dr. Ayme-Southgate to develop new techniques and provide
valuable data for future studies.
>> Dr. Hsu’s MUSC website
Dr. Marcy E. MacDonald of Harvard Medical School
Dr. MacDonald has agreed to mentor Dr. Chris Korey. An Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School,
and Director of the Center for Human Genetic Research at
Massachusetts General Hospital, she is at the forefront of human neurological
disease research focusing primarily on Huntington’s disease, although
she has become increasingly interested in the NCLs. She has mentored
over 20 post-doctoral fellows, 6 graduate students, and 4 undergraduates.
Dr. MacDonald has held 3 NIH grants continuously since 1987 and has played
a role in 2 others. Her research interests, publication record and funding
success make her an excellent mentor for Dr. Korey’s
development under the INBRE grant.
>> Dr. MacDonald’s
Mass General website
Dr. Lawrence Morin, State University of NY at Stony Brook
&
Dr. William Stark, St. Louis University
Drs. Lawrence P. Morin and William S. Stark have agreed
to serve as mentors to Dr. Elizabeth Meyer-Bernstein. Dr. Morin is a
Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and participates in the Neurobiology
program at SUNY Stony Brook. Dr. Morin’s
exemplary scientific and advisory record has lead to numerous peer-reviewed
publications and preeminent stature in the field of circadian rhythms.
He has a strong track record of extramural funding including one grant
from NIH that is in its 19th year of funding. He has mentored 11 individuals
and served as Dr. Meyer-Bernstein’s
PhD advisor.
Dr. Stark is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Saint Louis
University. He shares a research interest in the Drosophila visual
system and is an expert in the field of visual pigments and photosensitivity.
He has been the recipient of several NIH grants, the author of numerous
peer-reviewed publications and the mentor for over 75 students. While
Dr. Morin’s expertise lies in his grantsmanship, Dr. Stark will provide
unique insight into developing a strong research program at an institution
that requires a delicate balance between research and teaching. Combined,
these two scientists are able mentors in all
aspects of career development.
>> Dr.
Morin’s SUNY Stony Brook website
>> Dr.
Stark’s SLU website
Dr. Dan Knapp of the Medical University of South Carolina
MUSC’s Distinguished University Professor of Cell
and Molecular Pharmacology, Dr. Dan Knapp is Director of the MUSC
Proteomics Center and MUSC Director, Clemson-MUSC Bioengineering Program.
He is a well-funded NIH investigator and has agreed
to serve as mentor to Dr. Pamela Riggs-Gelasco. The
two have worked closely on SC-BRIN activities and share an interest in
structure-function relationships in proteins.
>> Dr. Knapp’s
MUSC website
Dr. Thomas Walle of the Medical University of South Carolina
Dr. Walle is a Professor of
Cell and Molecular Pharmacology at MUSC. He serves as mentor to investigator
Dr. Justin K. Wyatt.
Dr. Walle has an established research program at MUSC where he has over 180 publications
and has successful funding from the NIH, NCI, DOD and AICR. He has an active
research lab, currently with 2 postdoctoral and 2 graduate student
trainees, and otherwise a long training record.
>> Dr. Walle’s
MUSC website
College Guidance Group
This group includes Dr. Noonan and the key researchers, a seat which alternates between the chair of Biology and the chair of the Chemistry department, the College Director of Undergraduate Research, and the SSM Minority Recruitment Coordinator. This internal organization meets regularly to review progress, assess goals and oversee the College’s institutional commitments.
Dr. Norine E. Noonan
Principal Investogator and Dean, CofC School of Sciences
and Mathematics
>> more about Dr. Noonan
Dr. James Deavor
Chairman, Department of Chemistry
>> Dr. Deavor’s
website
Dr. Mark Lazzaro
Chariman, Department of Biology
>> Dr. Lazzaro’s website
Dr. Rick Heldrich
Director of Undergraduate Research, Professor of Chemistry
>> Office of Undergraduate Research
>> Dr. Heldrich’s website
Dr. Andre Straumanis
SSM Minority Recruitment Coordinator, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
— back to topInstitutional Steering Committee (ISC)
The four members of the ISC convene with the INBRE faculty semi-annually. Three of the members have extensive track-records of NIH funding and the fourth has a great deal of experience in grand writing and manuscript preparation. The ISC serves to provide feedback and evaluate the overall progress of the College’s SC-INBRE program, including student recruitment and participation, fulfillment of commitments, and research management.
Yusuf A. Hannun MD, Medical University of South Carolina
Dr. Hannun is Ralph F. Hirschmann Professor and Chairman
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at MUSC. His laboratory is focused
on studies on sphingolipid-mediated signal transduction, and aims to
use a combination of biochemical and molecular approaches
to define the specific roles, mechanisms and functions of sphingolipids
in the yeast responses to stress.
>> Dr. Hannun’s MUSC website
Dr. Dan Knapp of the Medical University of South Carolina
MUSC’s Distinguished University Professor of Cell
and Molecular Pharmacology, Dr. Dan Knapp is Director of the MUSC
Proteomics Center and MUSC Director, Clemson-MUSC Bioengineering Program.
He is a well-funded NIH investigator and also serves as mentor to Dr.
Pamela Riggs-Gelasco.
>> Dr. Knapp’s
MUSC website
Dr. Jennifer Schnellmann, Medical University of South Carolina
Dr. Schnellmann is an Assistant Professor and Senior Grant
Wroter in the MUSC Office of Research Development. She received her doctoral
degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Arkansas
for Medical Sciences and trained as a postdoctoral fellow with the FDA
at the National center for Toxicological Research. Previously, she was
a grant/science writer in Little Rock before joining MUSC in 2002,
where she helps to prepare investigator-initiated research proposals
(R01s), training grants, and other scientific writings.
>> MUSC Office of Research & Development
Dr. Voit Eberhard, Georgia Tech & Emory University
Dr. Eberhard is Professor and Georgia Research Alliance
Eminent Scholar in Systems Biology at GA Tech and Emory University’s
Department of Biomedical Engineering. His lab for biological systems
analysis does mathematical and computational work in collaboration
with several experimental groups that provide data and benefit
from his group’s modeling efforts. The lab aims to understand small
biological systems in great detail – working toward the day when mathematics
and computation will be capable of reliably predicting, manipulating
and optimizing these systems for the advancement of medicine, drug development
and biotechnology.
>> Dr.
Eberhard’s lab website