Current Researchers

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  Tuba Angay-Crowder, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Bagwell College of Education

  Aug. 2021 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interest: Transnational and multimodal practices of multilinguals.
  • Interest: Language teacher identities.
  • Interest: Culturally sustaining pedagogies.
  • Interest: Critical language awareness.
  • Project: Currently, we examine how language teachers implement translanguaging as pedagogy and practices in a dual language immersion program in an elementary school in Georgia. The ultimate goal of the project is to promote plurilingual approaches in education and integrating translanguaging practices into content areas and providing professional development opportunities for the teachers. 

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Jayoung Choi - FacultyWeb

   

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  John Barrows, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the College of Science and Mathematics

  Aug. 2021 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interest: Regulation of gene expression in prokaryotes.
  • Interest: Interactions between DNA and transcription regulatory proteins.
  • Project: Iron homeostasis in extremophiles. In this work, our laboratory seeks to discovery the biological function of three ferric uptake regulator homologs in the extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus. These proteins regulate gene expression when complexed with heavy metal co-factors. Therefore, they likely play a significant role in the recognition and response to environmental metals. We have established a novel, combinatorial approach to identify the preferred DNA-binding sequence of each of these proteins. From these results we will identify their transcription regulatory networks and shed novel insight into how this organism senses and responds to metals in their environment.

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Michael Van Dyke - Google Scholar

   

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  Tyler Collette, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences

  Oct. 2020 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interest: Culturally competent interventions for vulnerable populations.
  • Project: Healthy Together: A culturally competent self-management program for low-income African-American men.
  • Interest: Identifying the mechanisms for resilience after traumatic experiences. 
  • Project: Mechanisms of Trauma and Resilience: Evaluating cultural worldview as an anxiety buffer between adverse life events and post traumatic growth. 

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Evelina Sterling - Google Scholar

   

 

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  Kyle Gabriel, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the College of Science and Mathematics

  May 2017 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interests: Applied sciences. 
  • Projects: Serve as PI and Co-PI on several grants investigating fungal pathogen and disease mitigation (bat white-nose syndrome) and the development of renewable growth substrates and semi-automated cultivation methods for culinary mushroom production, among other projects. You can learn more about our lab at https://bioinnovation.kennesaw.edu

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Christopher Cornelison - BioInnovation Lab

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  Daniel Hoffman, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the College of Science and Mathematics

  Aug. 2021 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interest: Interactions between human activities and aquatic environments and their impacts on environmental health and community well-being.
  • Interest: Drivers, onset, and duration of eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, and other consequences of nutrient pollution in regional communities.
  • Project: Assessment of Georgia water quality nutrient monitoring, identification of gaps, and analysis of practical applications of data.

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Troy Mutchler - FacultyWeb

   

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  Gaurav Kumar, Postdoctoral Researcher in the College of Science and Mathematics

  June 2021 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interest: Identification proteins for transferrin endocytosis in the African trypanosome.
  • Project:  The protozaon Trypanosoma brucei causes human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), a neglected tropical disease. Endocytosis of the host protein, transferrin (Tf) is essential for trypanosome survival in a vertebrate host. However, the pathway for endocytosis of Tf is not completely characterized in the trypanosome. Most T. brucei genes lack homologs in model eukaryotes, making it difficult to completely delineate biological pathways using protein sequence alignments. We use a “discovery chemical biology” strategy to identify Transferrin (Tf) endocytosis pathway proteins in the African trypanosome. A small-molecule pyrrolopyrimidine AEE788, a kinase inhibitor, was used as a chemical probe of Tf endocytosis. Phosphoproteome analysis of AEE788- treated cells led to identification of a pseudokinase, Tb427tmp.160.4770 (TbNRP1) as a possible pathway protein for Tf endocytosis. We then employed a genetic approach (knock down of TbNRP1 by RNA interference) to validate TbNRP1’s role in endocytosis of Tf. Phosphoproteome  data from knockdown of TbNRP1 and from  “discovery chemical biology” strategy with AEE788 led to the identification of six new proteins that are under investigation as mediators Tf endocytosis in T. brucei. 

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Kojo Mensa-Wilmot - FacultyWeb

   

• 

  Matthew Lyons, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services

  Aug. 2021 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interest: Investigating the full causal pathway from the social and physical environment, through the biological mediators of disease, to adverse health outcomes.
  • Project: Quantitative investigation of differences between youth in the US and Uganda with regard to attitudes and experiences with both alcohol and violence (N = 600).
  • Interest: Development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of evidence-based programs to intervene along the causal pathway from environment to disease with the aim of preventing adverse health outcomes. 
  • Project: Longitudinal analysis of trajectories and predictors of SafeCare implementation fidelity in a sample containing 15,000 observations nested within 850 service providers. 

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Monica Swahn - Google Scholar

   

• 

  Anna M. Rosenhauer, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences

  Aug. 2021 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interest: Understanding the biological basis of fear and anxiety and their implications for mental health.
  • Project: Investigating the interplay of stress responses, hormones, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Ebony Glover - FacultyWeb

   

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  Vishal Saravade, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Southern Polytechnic Collge of Engineering and Engineering Technology

  Nov. 2021 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interest: Materials for spintronics and quantum information science
  • Interest: Compound semiconductors, nanomaterials and nanotechnology
  • Interest: Infrastructure monitoring and sensing
  • Project: Investigation of mechanisms in III Nitrides for room
    temperature spintronics and quantum information science
  • Project: Investigation of multifunctionalities in oxides materials using
    chemical vapor deposition growth and characterizations

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Benjamin Klein - FacultyWeb

• 

  Jason A. Shar, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology

  Aug. 2021 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interests: Bridging the gap between mechanics and biology by developing a comprehensive understanding of the potential causalities between abnormal blood flow and disease pathways.
  • Project: Investigating the cardiovascular risks posed by obese pregnancy on acquired pathologies such as acute aortic dissection.
  • Project: Assessing the mechanobiological impact of microgravity and radiation from long-duration spaceflight on the carotid bifurcation.
  • Project: Elucidating the role of blood flow and associated wall shear stress abnormalities resulting from hypertension on aortic valve calcification.

   

  • Faculty Mentor 
    • Philippe Sucosky - FacultyWeb

   

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  Amrita Sharma, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the College of Science and Mathematics

  Aug. 2021 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interest: Drug Development for Diseases Caused by the African Trypanosome; Molecular Mechanisms of Drug Action 
  • Project: Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is caused by Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and T. b. gambiense which establish acute and chronic infection, respectively. This disease is a threat to ~70 million people. Due to antigenic variation, vaccines cannot be produced against T. brucei. Current chemotherapy has some undesirable properties, necessitating the development of safer orally bioavailable drug leads with different mode(s) of action than the existing drugs. The approved drug lapatinib and a hit curaxin CBL0137 were explored as a starting point for the synthesis of new chemical entities in a medicinal chemistry campaign. New hits with improved physicochemical properties and potency against T. brucei have been obtained. Our studies aim to advance development of novel lead drugs, explore their molecular mode(s) of action, and identify their targets in T. brucei. 

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Kojo Mensa-Wilot - FacultyWeb

   

• 

  Saeid Vashari, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the College of Science and Mathematics

  Oct. 2021 - Present

  Research Interests/Projects

  • Interest: Theoretical, atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) physics
  • Interest: Quantum optics, nonlinear optics, (ultra) cold atoms
  • Interest: Quantum measurements, non-Hermitian physics
  • Interest: Foundations of quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics (QED)
  • Project: Time-reversal Young's interferometer
  • Project: Topological systems of micro-resonators
  • Project: Three-photon entanglement using an atomic ensemble

   

  • Faculty Mentor
    • Jianming Wen - FacultyWeb