Defne Apul
Department of Civil Engineering.

Currently, Dr. Defne Apul is working with four graduate students (2MS and 2PhD) and three undergraduate students. She has projects in four different areas two of which are externally funded.

One area is in phytoremediation of arsenic. This is a collaborative project with Daryl Dwyer and Hans Gottgens funded by USDA. The objective of the study is to design and optimize a passive remediation system for As contaminated soils. The passive remediation system will be wetlands. Dr. Apul’s role in the project is to model the As chemistry and transport through the wetlands system.

The second externally funded study of Dr. Apul’s research is on developing a decision making tool for beneficial reuse of byproducts. This is a USEPA funded project. Foundry sand, coal ash, steel slags, construction and demolition debris are large volume byproducts that can be used in road construction. However the benefits of using these materials are not clear to the users. The goal is to develop a life-cycle-assesment kind of approach that will allow potential users to make more informed decision. The tool that developed will be in the format of a model that will output energy consumption, environmental emission, and cost values related to a particular reuse application and compare this alternative with the use of virgin (e.g. natural aggregates) materials. Dr. Apul’s lab also plans to get stakeholder input for their model. They will use multi-criteria decision analysis tools for this aspect of the research.
You can find more information on Dr. Defne Apul's work Here...

Dr. Rane Arroyo is a professor and the Director of Creative Writing.  He has published four books of poems, the latest being Home Movies of Narcissus (University of Arizona Press).  He teaches writing workshops, and is also interested in Latino literature, cultural studies & literary theory.

The work Dr. Brian Ashburner conducts in his laboratory is currently funded by grants from the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences and has previously been funded by grants from the Ohio Division of the American Cancer Society. Dr. Ashburner’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms that regulate the activity of the NF-kappaB transcription factor.  NF-kappaB plays an essential role in immune and inflammatory responses and in providing pro-survival signals to cells.  In addition, NF-kappaB activity is dysregulated in many types of cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases. His lab is specifically interested in better understanding the signal transduction pathways that modulate the interaction between NF-kappaB and transcriptional coregulatory proteins. This work will help to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to NF-kappaB dysregulation in human diseases. 
You can find more information on Dr. Brian Ashburner's work Here...

Karen Bjorkman
Department of Astronomy.

Dr. Karen Bjorkman’s research interests are in the material around stars (circumstellar matter) and in the winds from hot stars. Evidence of circumstellar disks is seen in many types of stars, from the earliest young stars to older planetary nebulae, and the presence of disk-like geometries seems to be ubiquitous in the stellar zoo. Studying such systems can help to shed light on the ways that stars are formed, and possibly even on the development of protoplanetary systems around other stars. Some questions asked about winds, disks and circumstellar material include: What causes disks to form around massive stars? Are there interactions between stellar winds and circumstellar disks, and if so what are their consequences? What are the disks like? (are they thick or thin? hot or cool? high or low density?) How do disks affect the evolution of the star and the interstellar medium around it? Are there similarities between the disks observed in pre-main-sequence (young) stars, which may be the precursors to planetary systems, and those) observed in main-sequence (older) stars? 

In studying these questions, Dr. Bjorkman uses several observational techniques (spectroscopy, spectropolarimetry, and imaging) at multiple wavelengths (optical, ultraviolet, and infrared). Combining different types of observations can help develop a consistent picture of the nature of circumstellar envelopes and disks. These data are also used for comparison with models, which allows researchers to distinguish between different ideas of how disks form and what their physical characteristics are.

For more info on Dr. Karen Bjorkman and her research, click here…

Jiquan Chen
Department of Earth,
Ecological and
Environmental Services.

Dr. Jiquan Chen has established an internationally well-known research lab focusing on terrestrial ecosystems and landscapes.  The Landscape Ecology & Ecosystem Science (LEES) Lab (http://research.eeescience.utoledo.edu/lees/) directed by Dr. Chen maintains board collaborative research with many leading institutions across the USA and China, with strong focus on how global climate change and human disturbances jointly affect ecosystem processes and functions at multiple scales.  The LEES Lab, funded by NSF, NASA, USDA-FS etc., is the home of US-China Carbon Consortium (USCCC), The Landscape Ecology Working Group of IUFRO, the Consortium for Ecosystem Studies Uunit (CESU) at the University of Toledo, and UT’s NEON Team.   

For more information about Dr. Chen and his work, Click here...

Dr. Daryl Dwyer’s Environmental Remediation and Restoration Laboratory (ERRL) is based at the Lake Erie Center and currently has three Ph.D. candidates and six M.S. candidates.  Facilities used in phytoremediation studies are also located at the Stranahan Arboretum and the Toledo Botanical Gardens.  Funding comes from the US Department of Agriculture, the Ohio Water District Association and the Lake Erie Protection Fund.  Five major research projects include:

(1) Restoration of the King Road Landfill in Lucas County, Ohio using an evapotranspiration cover containing native plant species adept at preventing contaminant migration; (2) Design of a passive phytoremediation system for the removal of arsenic and other heavy metals from water and soils; (3) Restoration of wetlands along the Lake Erie shoreline to treat drainage water that enters Maumee Bay; (4) Identification of the source of bacterial contamination to the beaches of Maumee Bay State Park; (5) Remediation of contaminated sediments from Lake Erie using plant-microbe processes.  These projects involve collaborators from the US Department of Agriculture ARS-Greenhouse Production Research Group, US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Geological Survey, and the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toledo.  For more information click here...

Dr. Fitzgerald (B.A. Columbia, M.A./Ph.D. UCLA) is an Assistant Professor of English literature, specializing in the medieval period. She teaches various courses on Old and Middle English literature and language at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including Chaucer, medieval drama, and medieval women writers. She also teaches Shakespeare and introductory courses in literature. She has published articles and has presented numerous conference papers on medieval masculinity and drama, and has written a book on the subject, The Drama of Masculinity and Medieval English Guild Culture, to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2007. Her next project moves from the stage to the page, and investigates masculinity in the context of the late medieval mercantile consumers and readers of saints' lives and romances collected in "miscellaneous" manuscripts.

Dr. John Gray’s laboratory is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating cell death decisions in plants. He is also interested in understanding the response of plants to abiotic and biottic stresses and more recently nutrient stress. He employs a molecular genetics approaches to isolate and study genes involved in such processes.

Dr. Scott Heckathorn’s research interests are in plant, and more recently algal, ecological physiology and biochemistry, stress physiology and stress proteins (especially heat-shock proteins, or HSPs), photosynthesis and respiration, and nutrient relations.

Dr. Gray and Dr. Heckathorn work together to investigate the phenomenon of hidden hunger in plants using Arabidopsis as the model organism. The objective of this cooperative project is to identify the protein and gene expression changes during hidden hunger involved in nutrient stress in bedding plants, and to use this information to develop a technique, based on immunodetection that growers can then use to test their plants for specific and/or general nutrient deficiencies.

More on Dr. Gray here...

More on Dr. Heckathorn here...

Cyndee Gruden
Department of Civil
Engineering

Dr. Cyndee Gruden’s research interests include contaminated sediments. Her laboratory in the Department of Civil Engineering is interested in characterizing the microbiology of contaminated sediments, particularly focusing on the potential for biodegradation of persistent contaminants and biogas production. Recent projects sponsored by DOD and USGS have focused on freshwater environments including the Ottawa River in Toledo, OH and the Anacostia River in Washington, DC.

Dr. Gruden’s research focuses on microbial sensing (i.e., quantification, physiological assessment, identification) in environmental systems for comprehension and optimization of engineered and natural biological processes.  Due to the complexity of environmental matrices, microbial sensing requires the development of protocols involving sample pretreatment, careful selection of microbial targets and labels, and state-of-the-art detection methods.

For more information on Dr. Gruden and her research, click here…

Dr. William Messer has research interests focused on the development of new treatments for neurological disorders; Synthesis of novel M1 agonists for Alzheimer's disease; Synthesis of M4 agonists for schizophrenia; as well as the development of M5 antagonists for the treatment of drug abuse.

Dr. Messer credits his success to the efforts of many UT colleagues, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduate students with whom he has worked for the past 20 years.

Dr. Wayne Hoss is the Executive Associate Dean and research professor of the Department of Medicinal & Biological Chemistry.

Together, Dr. Hoss and Dr. Messer, researched muscarinic agonists which led to the establishment of their spin-off company, Cognitive Pharmaceuticals.

Their research is focused on the development of new treatments for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia.  Chemists in their laboratory synthesize new compounds with the aim of developing compounds that can selectively activate neurotransmitter receptors that play a role in memory and cognitive function.  They conduct a series of biochemical assays to assess the ability of compounds to bind to and activate receptors for acetylcholine known as muscarinic receptors.  The biochemical studies help them identify compounds that may be beneficial for treating neurological disorders.  They also examine the activity of the compounds in cellular and animal models of human disease.  They are particularly interested in identifying compounds that display neuroprotective properties.  Such compounds could be useful in preventing the neuronal degeneration associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The Lab is also interested in identifying compounds that enhance memory function in experimental animals, since these compounds could be useful in treating cognitive and memory deficits associated with both Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia.  They have identified CDD-0102 as a lead compounds for Alzheimer’s disease and CDD-0304 as a lead compound for schizophrenia.  They are working on the preclinical development of the compounds in collaboration with Cognitive Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a Toledo-based research and development company.  They hope to complete the preclinical studies for CDD-0102 in 2006 so that they can initiate Phase I clinical trials in early 2007.

For more information about Dr. Messer and his work, click here…

A primary focus of Dr. Douglas Leaman’s lab is to utilize Affymetrix gene chip technology to identify candidate IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) and dsRNA-stimulated genes that regulate cellular apoptotic or antiviral responses.

XAF1 is a newly identified protein that interacts with a particular IAP family member, XIAP (X-linked IAP). Dr. Leaman has demonstrated that XAF1 mRNA and protein are potently upregulated by IFN-beta in apoptosis-sensitive cells but not in apoptosis resistant cells. Structural studies aimed at identifying XAF1 functional motifs are in progress. He has also recently identified a novel XAF1-interacting protein that is undergoing functional characterization.

Other genes with potential importance in regulating IFN-beta-induced apoptosis or antiviral effects in melanoma have been identified in these same studies and confirmed as ISGs by Dr. Leaman. Analyses of several of these genes and the roles of their protein products in IFN responses are underway. In particular, he is actively pursuing the function of the protein encoded by the ISG12 gene, which is highly induced in expression following IFN stimulation.

For more information about Dr. Leaman and his work, click here…

Dr. Lipscomb is currently funded by Generon IGS to develop simulations of hollow fiber membrane gas separation modules used for air dehydration.

His current research projects arise from problems encountered in separating gas or liquid mixtures and the development of improved polymeric materials. He is exploring the use of novel membrane separation systems to address the former. Ongoing projects include: characterizing gas-membrane interaction by high pressure calorimetry, forming asymmetric hollow fiber membranes, controlling mass transfer within membrane systems, as well as pursuing hybrid applications in gas separation and liquid filtration. To aid polymeric material development, he is currently evaluating the effect of block copolymers on polymer blend rheology and determining the thermal and mechanical degradation rates of a family of biodegradable polyesters.

Dr. Jian-Yu Lu has received a long-term grant award from the National Institute of Health (NIH) for developing an ultrasound imaging system that has a potential for 3D high frame rate imaging. The University of Toledo has provided large lab space and offices to support Dr. Lu’s large and impressive laboratory. The Laboratory consists of four major sections: 1) advanced computing and electronic system testing facility, 2) ultrasound and optical experiment, 3) electronic circuit development, and 4) mechanical machine shop.

Dr. Lu is also Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control (TUFFC), a highly regarded international journal.

On April 16 and 17, 2004, respectively, the IEEE UFFC Ultrasonics Committee and the IEEE UFFC Administrative Committee approved to have the 2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium in Beijing, China. Both committees also approved Dr. Jian-Yu Lu to be the General Chair of the conference who will be responsible for forming and Organizing the Committee for this exciting event. The meeting will be held after the Beijing Summer Olympic Games, possibly in October 2008, and is expected to be one of the largest in the UFFC history. Past conferences have housed more than 1000 attendees.

For more information on Dr. Jian-Yu Lu and his research, click here...

Currently, Dr. Ale Lukaszew works in experimental magnetic thin films and nanostructures. She conducts fundamental studies on thin films (epitaxal, magnetic, etc.) and highly anisotropic nano-magnets, working to find the correlation between structure, surface morphology and physical properties in thin films. Other studies involve: researching the proximity and induced magnetic effects, working with magneto-optical sensors, biophotonic applications, and spintronic applications.  

You may read more about Dr. Lukaszew's research here...

Dr. Christine Mayer’s research interests in aquatic ecology include: invertebrate-fish predator-prey interactions, organism-habitat modification (ecosystem engineering), spatial scale of effects, and introduced species effects. She uses multi-trophic level and multi-taxa approaches to address research questions. She conducts experiments, field surveys and analysis of long-term data in order to investigate large scale patterns in nature as well as attempt to understand underlying ecological mechanisms. In the past, Dr. Mayer has worked on Lake Ontario and Oneida Lake, NY.  In addition to these locations, in the future she will initiate work on Lake Erie.

Dr. Mayer’s recent projects include investigations of the effect of zebra mussel introduction on the benthic invertebrate community and yellow perch population of Oneida Lake, NY., an assessment of the foodweb impact of an exotic amphipod on near-shore foodwebs in Lake Ontario, a study of the process of “Benthification” (the increase in importance of benthic processes in lakes) caused by anthropogenic drivers such as introduced species and changes in nutrient loading, and an experimental study of the response of production and food quality in benthic and pelagic food webs to water clarity (light), nutrients, and Dreissena.

For more information on Dr. Christine Mayer and her work please click here…

Dr. McGadney-Douglass, recipient of the 2005 University Research Award Fellowship Program, Presents her work entitled: "The Guinea Fowl War:The Voices of Internally Displaced Women Representing Minority and Majority Groups Involved in a Multi-Ethnic Conflict in Northern Ghana". An eye-opening study of the aftermath of the turbulent tribal conflicts of the 1990's in the sub-Saharan African country of Ghana. Dr. McGadney-Douglass traveled to Ghana and spoke to the women and men still struggling to regain all that they have lost throughout the years. She collected data through one on one and group interviews, speaking with the people who have lived through the tragedy first hand.

You can find more information on Dr. McGadney-Douglass's work Here...

Dr. Daryl Moorhead’s current research focuses on quantifying, analyzing and modeling energy and nutrient flows through ecological systems.

With the introduction of the zebra mussel and laws passed to quell pollution in the Great Lakes regions, Dr. Moorhead has used studies conducted in the 1970’s and the 1990’s to quantify changes in water quality in the Maumee Bay area during this transitional period. His studies evaluate chlorophyll-a, chloride, conductivity, nitrate, total phosphorus, and dissolved oxygen in the area and describe complex patterns of spatial-temporal relationships in water quality of Maumee Bay for this period of time.

Another of Dr. Moorhead’s local studies has been to evaluate the abundance, distribution, and interaction of aquatic turtles at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR), with emphasis on the Midland painted turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata) and Map turtle (Graptemys geographica). The turtle communities of these coastal wetlands may serve as a model system in which to develop management plans for native species. While using traps and radio-telemetry, the study reveals that the turtles differentially utilize the land with respect to age and species.

International studies have shown that both Lake Fryxell and Ace Lake, of Antarctica, lack vertebrates, insects and most organisms commonly found in temperate regions. A species of copepod is the only metazoan and top predator in Ace Lake whereas a species of rotifer is the only metazoan and top predator in Lake Fryxell. Dr. Moorhead has been modeling these lakes to study carbon flow, and the effect the top predator has in each case to help answer basic questions about the origins and organization of biodiversity.

Finally, Dr. Moorhead conducts research on decomposition of litter in response to local as well as global changes. He uses models to help evaluate the key processes controlling decomposition and nutrient cycling.

For more information on Dr. Moorhead and his work, click here...

Dr. Benjamin Pryor is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and a Co-Director (with Jerry Van Hoy, Sociology and Anthropology) of the Program in Law and Social Thought. He received his PhD from Penn State in 1999 with a dissertation on topics in the work of Michel Foucault. His areas of specialization include 19th and 20th Century European Philosophy (especially Foucault, Nancy, Heidegger, and Nietzsche), Legal Studies, and Social & Political Philosophy. He also has interests in aesthetics, modern philosophy, ethical theory, and in the relation between philosophy and literature. He received his BA from the Johnston Center at the University of Redlands in southern California, after which he went to the Claremont Graduate University for his Master's in Philosophy.
 
The Program in Law and Social Thought is the product of collaboration among colleagues in various departments at UT, including Political Science, Sociology, Disability Studies and Women's and Gender Studies. It is a truly unique program, not only because of the object of study--the law and legal institutions--but because of the innovative curriculum Dr. Pryor and his colleagues have fashioned for undergraduate students. Please check it out at here...

Dr. Anthony Quinn is an Associate Professor in Biological Sciences at the University of Toledo, and Adjunct Professor in Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio. He is an immunologist who trained in the laboratories of Dr. MadeleIne Cunningham and Dr. Sercarz, and has a long-standing interest in the regulation of immunity, as it relates to the control of autoimmune disease. He is currently studying CD8+ T cell responses to self-antigens in autoimmune diabetes and their roles in the initiation of pancreas-specific damage. In collaboration with Dr. Sercarz, he has published several articles on GAD65-specific T cells and has one of the few published reports on GAD65-specific CD8+ T cells. Dr. Quinn was also instrumental in establishing the First International NOD Mouse T Cell Workshop, in conjunction with the Immunology of Diabetes Society and The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

For more information about Dr. Quinn and his work, click here...