Our Faculty

Faculty	Research Area
Cory Baumann, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Skeletal muscle disorders, frailty, and aging: The Baumann Lab studies mechanisms of skeletal muscle contraction and metabolism that contribute to weakness caused by aging and myopathy. Specifically, using mice that mimic or replicate these specific populations may be less stress resistant, resilient, and adaptable. Short-term undergraduate research projects could include training in basic histological and biochemical techniques to better understand metabolic and physiologic changes observed in skeletal muscle.
Fabian Benencia, PhD, Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Immune response, metabolism, and cancer: Research explores the capability of antigen presenting cells to act as inducers or suppressors of immunity responses in cancer, atherosclerosis or infections, and their involvement in inflammatory conditions such as obesity and diabetes. Undergraduate research projects will deal with the effect of adipokines on endothelial cell biology that will provide data on the pathological consequences of metabolic disease in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Students will be trained in molecular biology, cell biology and immunology techniques during the course of the project.
Stephen Bergmeier, PhD, Professor and Chair, Chemistry and Biochemistry	Medicinal chemistry and new synthetic methodology: Medicinal chemistry and new synthetic methodology: Recent work has focused on the development of small molecule inhibitors of glucose uptake as a novel therapeutic for the treatment of cancer and the design and synthesis of a small-molecule dual treatment for Type 1 Diabetes. Possible short-term undergraduate research projects could include preparing novel analogues of antidiabetic molecules as well as studying the stability/water solubility of antidiabetic molecules.
Darlene Berryman, PhD, RD, LD, Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Obesity and fat heterogeneity: Research on the nutritional (dietary restriction/fasting) and hormonal (growth hormone or GH and insulin-like growth factor-1) factors impacting adipose tissue and the risk of obesity and its associated diseases, i.e, type 2 diabetes. More recently, her laboratory has initiated studies of the impact of both diet and GH on the gut microbiome. Undergraduate students will work with mouse models with genetic and dietary manipulations and evaluate their role on adipose tissue distribution, metabolism, and function or microbiome studies as well as the progression of obesity to overt diabetes.
Elizabeth Beverly, PhD, Professor, Primary Care	Psychosocial & cognitive factors in managing diabetes: Research program on diabetes through a psychosocial lens, employing focused ethnographic methodology to examine challenges in a rural and underserved region in Appalachian Ohio to understand underlying mechanisms leading to success or failure in achieving and maintaining improved diabetes self-care and glycemic targets in people with diabetes. Focus on implementing evidence-based interventions to address health disparities to improve outcomes. She also has conducted program evaluations of diabetes navigation programs and community coalitions. Currently, she is exploring individuals' experiences of diabetes distress in rural southeastern Ohio.
Xiaozhuo Chen, PhD, Associate Professor, Edison Biotechnology Institute	Glucose transport in diabetes and cancer: The two major areas of research interest for the Chen Lab are the study of glucose transport and glucose-related metabolism in cancer and pancreatic beta cells. Of particular interest is the development of anticancer and antidiabetic therapeutics targeting glucose transport. Much of the drug discovery work utilizes techniques that can be mastered by undergraduate students in a short time frame.
Ilana Chertok, PhD, MSN, RN, IBCLC, Professor, School of Nursing	Gestational diabetes and infant health: My overarching goal is to support maternal-infant health through lactation and breastfeeding promotion of maternal-infant dyads impacted by gestational diabetes mellitus. Breastfeeding and breastmilk have been found to facilitate short-term neonatal metabolic stability and contribute to long-term women’s and children’s health.
Leslie Consitt, PhD, Associate Professor of Physiology	Insulin resistance in skeletal muscle: Our research focuses on the cellular mechanisms that contribute to skeletal muscle insulin resistance in obesity, diabetes and aging. Possible short-term undergraduate projects include clinical research investigating whole-body metabolic responses to diet and exercise in insulin resistant humans, as well as basic research opportunities investigating the cellular mechanisms contributing to diabetes in skeletal muscle tissue and primary human skeletal muscle cells.
Douglas Goetz, PhD, Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering	Drug delivery and biochemistry: Investigates the molecular recognition and signaling events that occur in pathological processes, such as diabetes, and seeks to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of pathological inflammation, autoimmune inflammatory disease, and atherosclerosis. Undergraduate research projects will focus on the development of small molecule therapeutics.
Emily Guseman, PhD, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine	Diabetes, obesity, and behavior: Research on how lifestyle behaviors, including physical activity, inactivity, and sleep, interact with stress responses to influence the development and treatment of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes during childhood. Possible short-term undergraduate research projects could include cross-sectional evaluations of the relationships between lifestyle behaviors and child health, validation of methods and techniques, and evaluation of short-term group interventions to promote child health.
Jennifer Hines, PhD, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry	Structural biology and medicinal chemistry: The Hines Lab studies the structure-activity relationships of small molecule ligands that bind to RNA and proteins. Using computational techniques, we have begun to study small molecule interactions with both RNA and protein targets related to glucose transport, insulin secretion, and cytokine action. The Hines Lab utilizes a variety of approaches ranging from biophysical (fluorescence, UV, NMR) to bioinformatics, computational and molecular biology techniques that are amenable to undergraduate research.
Allyson Hughes, PhD, Assistant Professor, Primary Care	Behavioral medicine and diabetes: Dr. Hughes is a behavioral scientist with a passion for diabetes, disability, health policy, population health, and health equity. Her research in diabetes and behavioral medicine focuses on the psychosocial challenges of diabetes management across the lifespan. She seeks to improve the diabetes care experience not only for people with diabetes but also for their family members. Currently, she is exploring how health policy impacts diabetes management.
Savas Kaya, PhD, Professor, Chemical and Electrical Engineering	Nanotechnology and biomedical engineering: My laboratory has received federal and state funding to pursue collaborative work in bio-molecular and printed sensors, microfluidic systems, flexible and wearable/portable electronic monitoring systems, circuits for wireless data interconnects, and other nanotechnologies that are part of the overarching goal of affordable and compact lab-on-a-chip applications. These projects can help to nurture the upcoming generation of scientists and engineers.
John Kopchick, PhD, Professor, Edison Biotechnology Institute	Growth hormone, metabolism, and aging: Research focus on: 1) growth hormone (GH) and its diabetogenic activity, 2) the use of a GH receptor antagonists or variants to diminish GH’s diabetogenic action, 3) the role of GH and insulin sensitivity on healthspan and lifespan and 4) the use a proteomic platform to identify new biomarkers of pre-diabetes. Projects for undergraduate students will vary but can include evaluating various physiological parameters for diabetes/obesity in live mice, determining GH and insulin signaling intermediates in isolated tissues, generating/purifying GH variants, using cell culture based systems to assess GH’s action or proteomic analysis of samples from human or mouse models.
Kevin Lee, PhD, Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Fat heterogeneity, inflammation: Research to understand at a molecular and cellular level what accounts for heterogeneity between white adipocyte subpopulations and to study the effect these different adipocyte subpopulations have on systemic metabolism. Knowledge gained from research using novel cell and mouse models to study adipocyte biology will aid in the identification of specific markers and the development of therapeutic approaches to combat the metabolic disorders associated with obesity.
Yang Li, PhD, Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Zinc regulation: Dr. Li’s Lab investigates how cells communicate in the brain & how neural disorders (stroke, epilepsy & Alzheimer's Disease) affect the brain function/structure. In particular, the Li Lab employs cellular, molecular, biochemical, and genetic approaches to address fundamental questions pertaining to the brain zinc. The Li Lab also studies the role of zinc in beta-cell function, a project that is of particular relevance to diabetes and that would mesh well with undergraduate trainees using the techniques described above.
Edward List, PhD, Research Scientist, Edison Biotechnology Institute	Growth hormone, metabolism, and aging: Some of our current research projects aim to maximize health and lifespan using a combination of therapeutic options. One of these interventions has resulted in a world record for longevity in laboratory mice (nearly doubling lifespan). Other projects include investigating the long-term health effects of obesity, weight loss, and weight cycling.
Yuanjie Mao, MD, PhD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Specialty Medicine	Insulin action and insulin resistance: Research on the effects of long-term insulin exposure on weight changes, inflammation, and diabetic complications in healthy individuals and people with diabetes using cohort study datasets and biospecimens. Undergraduate students will work with clinical question formation, medical record data collection, and biospecimen measurements.
Erin Murphy, PhD, Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences	RNA-mediated gene regulation: Our primary research focus is on understanding how disease-causing bacteria regulate gene expression in response to specific environmental conditions encountered within the infected host. Focus is placed on the study of RNA-mediated gene regulation that impact the ability of bacteria to survive within the host and cause disease. This work overlaps with many research areas, and we are actively collaborating with Ohio University researchers on the effects of the microbiome on obesity.
Sonia Najjar, PhD, Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Metabolic diseases of the liver: Dr. Najjar’s lab research program has been continuously funded by the American Diabetes Association, and several federal funding agencies including NIH and NSF with the primary focus on obesity, diabetes, fatty liver disease and their cardiovascular complications. The lab is focused on the role of cell adhesion molecule CEACAM1 in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Corinne Nielsen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences	Neurovascular physiology and metabolism: The brain vasculature provides a critical and expansive blood supply to support neuronal metabolism and function, and vascular lesions within the brain are often accompanied by neurological dysfunction. Our lab is interested in understanding how diverse neural and vascular cell populations respond to cues from one another. A portion of this work focuses on vascular issues in diabetes.
Craig Nunemaker, PhD , Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Islet Biology, metabolism, and inflammation: The Nunemaker lab studies the cells in the pancreas that make and release insulin in order to learn how they help to regulate energy needs of the body and to learn how to fix what goes wrong with these cells in diabetes. We use imaging techniques with fluorescent probes to observe how these cells respond to metabolic stress and/or drug therapies. These studies can be conducted in real time on live cells for rapid data collection, which is ideal for summer projects with undergraduate students.
Vishwajeet Puri, PhD, Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Obesity and fat cell biology: We identified a novel set of adipocyte-specific proteins, Cidea and FSP27, associated with lipid droplets that regulate fat metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Our studies revealed that these proteins define a novel regulated pathway of lipid accumulation in mouse and human adipose tissue, supporting a model whereby failure of this pathway results in ectopic lipid deposition and insulin resistance in humans. Possible short-term undergraduate research could include training in basic laboratory techniques to observe fat metabolism and its associated co-morbidities.
Thomas Rosol, DVM, PhD, MBA, Professor and Chair, Biomedical Sciences	Pathology: Dr. Rosol is a trained veterinarian and pathologist, specializing in the pathogenesis of metabolic disease, animal models of human cancer, and the pathology of rodents with specialization in bone, endocrine organs and the reproductive system. In collaboration with other investigators, the Rosol Lab is phenotyping a novel mouse model of a mutant form of parathyroid hormone related peptide for metabolic effects related to brain, pancreas, cartilage other tissues. These projects are closely aligned with DISIRE goals to provide undergraduate researchers with meritorious research opportunities.
Vishva Sharma, PhD Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism, Insulin Resistance, Metabolic diseases (Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases): Our lab’s focus is to study novel genes/proteins that are altered during obesity and predispose humans to obesity and obesity-associated chronic diseases, for example, Type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular diseases. Our lab is investigating the role of nuclear factors that regulate expression and/or activity of the master regulators of adipogenesis (fat cell differentiation) and or adipose homeostasis (balanced regulation of glucose metabolism and its integration with whole-body energy production/storage/usage). We use cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetic approaches to delineate molecular entities and pathways, deregulation of which leads to metabolic dysfunction.
Nathaniel Szewczyk, PhD, Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Muscle function and decline in aging: The focus of the Szewczyk Lab is on genetic control of muscle decline, most recently in response to space flight. This research also explores the effect of inactivity and diet on muscle health with age, novel treatments for muscular dystrophy and the role of exogenous hydrogen sulphide in extending lifespan and improving health. These topics are of general interest to undergraduates and include projects that would be well suited to summer research internships.
Shaohua Wang, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Bacterial Pathogen Studies: We focus largely on the bacterial pathogen studies especially Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile). C. difficile is the most common hospital acquired infections, with high rate of antibiotic resistance and recurrence incidences, became a debilitating public health threat, with no successful preventive and treatment options. We are interested in exploring the pathogenic mechanisms (related genes, proteins, pathways) and biomarkers by genetic engineering; and conducting projects that elucidate the effects of probiotics/prebiotics/natural metabolites on gut microbiome modulation to attenuate C. difficile infection (CDI) and recurrent CDI (rCDI). We would also discover new drugs (as antibiotics alternatives) and develop new systems to prevent and treat CDI/rCDI. Moreover, we will also be interested to extend therapeutic strategies to other emergency pathogens to improve human health.
Shouan Zhu, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences	Osteoarthritis in diabetes and aging: The Zhu lab studies the effects of aging, obesity and trauma on osteoarthritis, with a focus on cartilage regeneration and metabolism in mouse models of type 2 diabetes. Our work with primary mouse chondrocytes is particularly amenable to short-term undergraduate projects.

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