NSF-REU in Biology/Biochemistry

The NSF-Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) Program in Biology and Biochemistry is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation and is limited to students from our partner institutions: Barry University, College of St. Elizabeth, Florida A&M University, Grinnell College, Long Island University - Brooklyn Campus, Medgar Evers College/Kingsborough Community College, Missouri State University, Prairie View A&M University, Truman State University, University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Xavier University of Louisiana. Students selected for the program will be placed in an appropriate research laboratory based on their research interests. MU faculty mentors have academic appointments in either the Division of Biological Sciences or the Department of Biochemistry.

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants must meet the basic eligibility requirements.
• Students must be enrolled at one of the partner institutions and must apply through the faculty liaison at their home school (Barry, St. Elizabeth, Florida A&M, Grinnell, Long Island University-Brooklyn, Medgar Evers/KCC, MSU, Prairie View A&M, Truman State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Xavier).
• Students must intend to pursue a PhD or combined MD/PhD in a life science discipline.

Potential Faculty Mentors for NSF-REU in Biology and Biochemistry

Department of Biochemistry

Lesa Beamer — Structural biology: X-ray crystallography of medically important proteins

Donald H. Burke — Biochemical assessment of HIV-1 drug discovery and resistance, Molecular engineering of RNA enzymes

David Emerich — Proteomic Analysis of Mutations in Consecutive Steps of the Citric Acid Cycle

Tom Guilfoyle — Transcription factors that regulate auxin responses

Mark Hannink — BTB-Kelch substrate adaptor proteins and regulated protein ubiquitination

Gerald L. Hazelbauer — Signaling, adaptation and memory in bacterial chemotaxis

Michael Henzl — Biophysical characterization of EF-hand calcium-binding proteins; protein-ligand interactions

Dennis Lubahn — Finding novel molecular functions for human & mouse estrogen receptors, the female sex steroid
receptors

Bruce McClure — Cell-cell interactions in pollen recognition and rejection

Jan Miernyk — Cloning and molecular analysis of genes involved in the stress response

Scott Peck — Proteomics of protein phosphorylation and protein kinases

Brenda Peculis — Biochemical and biophysical analysis of X29, a novel nuclear decapping protein: correlating protein structure and in vitro catalysis to in vivo function

Charlotte Phillips — Collagen in inherited and acquired diseases of bone and kidney; matrix metalloproteinases; medical genetics

Joseph Polacco — Characterizing plant (Arabidopsis) mutants defective in transcriptional factors which respond to nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus) depletion

Elizabeth Rogers — How do plants get iron from the soil: Map-based cloning of an iron underaccumulation mutation.

Grace Sun — Biochemistry of the nervous system, how microglial cells kill neurons

Jay Thelen — Proteomic analysis of oilseed development, Immunocytochemical analysis of seed filling in soybean and arabidopsis

Gary Weisman — Investigating the role of P2Y2 nucleotide receptors in inflammatory disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis and Sjögren’s syndrome.

Shuqun Zhang — Genetic analysis of MAP kinase signaling in plants

Division of Biological Sciences

Jim Birchler — Studies of centromere structure and function using fluorescent in situ hybridization to maize chromosomes

Anand Chandrasekhar — Molecular and cellular analysis of motor neuron specification and migration

Rex Cocroft — Animal social behavior and communication; behavioral ecology; mechanisms of behavior

Karen Cone — Analysis of chromatin gene mutations in maize: How does changing chromatin packaging alter gene expression?

Dawn Cornelison — Extracellular signaling in adult muscle stem cells

John Faaborg — Avian reproduction in a fragmented landscape

Michael Garcia — Myelination of central and peripheral nervous system axons

Carl Gerhardt — Evolution and mechanisms of acoustic communication in animals (insects, frogs)

Miriam Golomb — Virulence genes of Haemophilus influenzae

Tim Holtsford — Ecological genetics of evolution of self-pollination in Nicotiana (wild tobacco)

M. Alejandra Jaramillo — Plant evolution: morphological innovations and diversification in the tropics

Mark Kirk — Stem cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and tumors of the CNS

Mannie Liscum — Environmental and hormonal regulation of plant growth and development

Joel Maruniak — Effects of caloric restriction on the production of neurons in the brain

Andrew McClellan — Lamprey neurobiology: Axonal regeneration, behavioral recovery, brain regions involved in locomotor behavior, neurite outgrowth of brain neurons

Kathy Newton — Plant molecular genetics; mitochondrial genetics

Steve Nothwehr — Trafficking of proteins through the secretory and endocytic pathways

Tom Phillips — Differentiation of human conjunctival and colonic epithelial cell lines in vitro

Chris Pires — Functional Genomics of Polyploids

David Schulz — Molecular mechanisms of neural network function

David Setzer — DNA-protein interactions and transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes

Patrick Shiu — Meiotic Silencing by Unpaired DNA

Ray Semlitsch — Effects of land use on persistence of amphibian populations

Per Stromhaug — Sorting of cytosolic proteins and organelles to the vacuole/lysosome (Autophagy)

John Walker — Molecular Analysis of Signaling Pathways in Plants

Samuel T. Waters — Molecular and genetic analysis of transcriptional regulators during neural development

Troy Zars — Molecular neurobiology of memory formation in Drosophila