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Dr. Bryan Cassone is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Biology at Brandon University in Canada. Bryan received his B.Sc. in biology, specializing in environmental science, from the University of Western Ontario, his M.Sc. in integrative biology from the University of Guelph, and his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Notre Dame. After completing his PhD, Bryan conducted postdoctoral research at the Corn, Soybean, & Soft Wheat Unit at the United States Department of Agriculture. Next, he was a CAPS Herta Camera Gross Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Plant Pathology at Ohio State University. He joined the faculty at Brandon University in 2015. In this interview, Bryan shares more about his life and science.

[Read more…] about 848: Dr. Bryan Cassone: Exploring Molecular Entomology from Pervasive Pests to Plastic-Eating Caterpillars

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Dr. Natalia Vergara is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center, University of Colorado School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus. Natalia received her B.S. in biochemistry from the National University of the Litoral in Argentina. She worked as an instructor and research intern at the National University of Entre Ríos for about three years before beginning graduate school. Natalia was awarded her PhD in retinal regenerative biology from Miami University in Ohio. Afterwards, she conducted postdoctoral research at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She served as a Research Associate Faculty member at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for about two years before joining the faculty at the University of Colorado. Natalia has received awards for research and for mentoring, including the Ruben Adler Research Award from the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2012, and she was selected as an Emerging Vision Scientist to participate in the Third Annual EVS day on Capitol Hill by the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research in 2017. In our interview, Natalia tells us more about her life and science.

[Read more…] about 847: Dr. Natalia Vergara: Scientist with Her Sights Set on Using Stem Cells to Study and Treat Retinal Degeneration

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Dr. Randy Blakely is a Professor of Biomedical Science at Florida Atlantic University and Executive Director of the Florida Atlantic University Brain Institute. Randy received his B.A. in Philosophy from Emory University and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He next conducted postdoctoral research at the Yale/Howard Hughes Medical Institute Center for Molecular Neuroscience. Randy was an investigator and faculty member at Emory University and Vanderbilt University before accepting his current position at Florida Atlantic University. Randy is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his research and mentorship. He was awarded the Daniel Efron Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, two Distinguished Investigator Awards from the Brain and Behavioral Research Foundation, a MERIT Award from the National Institute of Mental Health, a Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, the Delores C. Shockley Partnership Award in recognition of minority trainee mentorship, as well as the Astellas Award in Translational Pharmacology and the Julius Axelrod Award both from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. In addition, he is a Fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. Randy joins us in this episode to talk more about his life and science.

[Read more…] about 846: Dr. Randy Blakely: Studying the Genetics and Mechanisms of Specialized Proteins in the Brain that Regulate Neurotransmission

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Dr. Nirosha J. Murugan is a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Tissue Biophysics as well as Distinguished Research Chair and Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Wilfrid Laurier University. She was awarded her B.S. in behavioral neuroscience, her M.S. in biophysics, and her PhD in biomolecular sciences from Laurentian University. Afterwards, she conducted postdoctoral research at the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University. During that time, she also served as a teaching fellow at Harvard University in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. She served on the faculty at Algoma University before joining the faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2024.

Over the course of her early career, Nirosha has received numerous awards and honors including the Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Development and Innovation. She was also the recipient of Rising Awards of Excellence from the Government of Ontario, the Young Professional Visionary Award from the Sault Ste Marie Chamber of Commerce, and an Optica Foundation Award to develop new optical tools to solve global health challenges. In this interview, Nirosha shares more about her life and science.

[Read more…] about 845: Dr. Nirosha Murugan: Decoding the Role of Biophysical Signals in Health and Disease

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Dr. Sonia Contera is an Associate Professor of Biological Physics at the University of Oxford Physics Department, and a Research Fellow of Green Templeton College. She is also the author of the recently released book Nano comes to Life. Sonia received her bachelor’s degree in physics from the Autonomous University of Madrid. She attended graduate school at Beijing Languages and Culture University and subsequently worked as a researcher at the Czech Academy of Sciences. Sonia was then awarded a Japanese Government Monbushō scholarship to attend Osaka University where she received her PhD in Applied Physics. Next, Sonia was awarded an E.U. Fellowship to Japan at the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research SANKEN at Osaka University. Prior to coming to Oxford in 2003, she served as a Research Assistant Professor at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Centre at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. In 2008, Sonia founded the Oxford Martin Institute of Nanoscience for Medicine at the Oxford Martin School. In our interview, Sonia shares more about her life and science.

[Read more…] about 844: Dr. Sonia Contera: Applying Physics and Nanotechnology to Understand Mechanics and Shape in Biological Systems