Dr. Mark Chatfield
Plant Physiology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology chatfield@wvstateu.edu Dr. Chatfield’s lab is interested in the interaction between microflora of the soil and trees, particularly with respect to reclamation of strip mines.
Dr. Sean Collins
Social Insect Biology, Insect Population Biology, Ecology scollin5@wvstateu.edu Dr. Collins’ lab uses molecular approaches to define population distributions of social wasps.
Dr. Jonathan Eya
Fish Biology and Nutrition, Aquaculture, Nutrigenomics, Nutritional Immunology eyajc@wvstateu.edu Dr. Eya’s lab is interested in applied aquaculture, and is currently exploring mitochondrial gene expression relative to nutrition.
Dr. Richard Ford
Coordinator, Biotechnology Graduate Program. Principles of Biology, Fundamentals Biology, Microbiology, Virology fordri@wvstateu.edu Dr. Ford does not have a lab.
Dr. Gerald Hankins
Tumor Biology, Gene Therapy ghankins@wvstateu.edu Dr. Hankins’ lab studies aspects of meningioma biology, including gene therapy and the effects of exogenous chemicals (ex. progesterone) on gene expression.
Dr. Katherine Harper
Chair, Department of Biology. Genetics, Cell Biology, Virology harperkl@wvstateu.edu
Dr. Rob Harris
Muscle Physiology harrisro@wvstateu.edu Dr. Harris studies the response of smooth muscle cytoskeletal response to stimuli such as mechanical stress and nutritional chemicals (ex. resveratrol).
Dr. Amir Hass
Environmental Soil Chemist amirhass@wvstateu.edu; Dr. Hass research focus on fate and chemical behavior of nutrients and pollutants in soil and water, on beneficial use of agronomic, municipal, and industrial waste-streams, and on development of reclamation and mitigation practices to offset anthropogenic impacts on ecosystem services.
Dr. David Huber
Environmental Microbiology, Environmental Microbial Genomics, Microbial Diversity, Biofilms, Anaerobic Digestion huberdh@wvstateu.edu Dr. Huber’s lab uses molecular approaches to characterize the identity and function of microbial communities in poultry waste treated in a thermophilic anaerobic digester.
Dr. Barbara Liedl
Plant Breeding and Genetics, Horticulture, Plant Reproductive Barriers, Sustainable Agriculture liedlbe@wvstateu.edu Dr. Liedl’s lab is developing insect and disease resistant tomato varieties for greenhouse and high tunnel production using marker assisted selection. Her lab also works on reproductive barriers between cultivated tomato and their wild species to assist in transfer of resistance traits.
Dr. Padma Nimmakayala
Research Scientist and Associate Professor: Quantitative Genetics, DNA marker-assisted plant breeding padma@wvstateu.edu Dr. Nimmakayala’s research focuses on molecular marker development, genetic and physical mapping, marker assisted selection in vegetable crops (pepper, watermelon, sweetpotato and other cucurbits).
Dr. Umesh Reddy
Plant Genomics, Biotechnology ureddy@wvstateu.edu Dr. Reddy teaches Biotechniques, Genetics, Crop Diversity and Evolution, Graduate Seminar and Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics. Dr. Reddy’s lab specializes in genomics of significant traits in commercially important plants, including cotton, peppers, melons.
Dr. Tim Ruhnke
Systematics and Evolution of Parasitic Platyhelminths, Environmental Parasitology ruhnketr@wvstateu.edu Dr. Ruhnke studies the phylogeny and evolution of tapeworms in sharks and rays, using both traditional phenotypic characterization as well as molecular (rDNA) approaches.
Dr. Sanju A. Sanjaya
Plant Biotechnology, Molecular biology, Synthetic Biology, Biofuels and Phytoremediation. sanjaya@wvstateu.edu http://www.wvstateu.edu/energy.aspx Dr. Sanjaya’s lab is leading an active research program to design plants and microalgae with enhanced bioenergy, nutritional value, industrial compounds and phytoremediation for higher production, profitability and sustainability. His lab uses bioinformatics, biochemical, molecular and cell biology, genetics and genetic engineering approaches to understand plant lipid metabolism mechanisms.