Program Faculty Research Areas
| Name/Personal Web Site/Links | Research Area(s) | |
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Biophysical characterization of proteins associated with signal transduction |
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The intersection of biology, statistics, and computer science. We study fundamental questions about the origins and evolution of genome structure and function primarily using beetles and snakes, and we develop new software to search for answers. |
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Alrubaye, Adnan |
Microbiology of bone infections in broiler chickens, management and genetic improvements to reduce bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis and lameness in broiler chickens. |
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Diatom comparative genomics, molecular evolution, and phylogenetics |
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| Aranyak, Goswami |
Application of computational biology, bioinformatics, statistical genetics, genomics, machine learning, deep learning, and data sciences, to address novel and complex problems in biology, precision medicine, human/animal microbiome, microbial evolution, host-pathogen interactions, systems biology, and human gene therapy. |
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Engineering effective strategies to maintain grain quality and prevent mycotoxin development |
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Cardiovascular mechanobiology and structure-function relationships; Organ-on-chip development; Development of hybrid polymers for regenerative medicine |
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Metabolic programming, mitochondrial function, energy metabolism, cell signaling, and gene expression, related to obesity and type 2 diabetes. |
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Bioseparation and fermentation |
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Plant Pathology |
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Poultry physiology |
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Weed and herbicide physiology, genetic diversity of weeds, herbicide-resistant plants |
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Human and ecological health, statistics, internet technologies, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and developing new methods to visualize complex issues. Tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics, comparing and contrasting rapid systems. |
dgcatanz@uark.edu | |
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Utilizing machine learning and deep learning techniques to model and analyze protein-protein
interactions, protein-ligand binding, as well as protein evolution and mutations. |
jiahuic@uark.edu | |
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Engineering nanomaterials for biological applications, including treating cancer and infections |
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Biology, genetics and molecular biology of fungal pathogens of vegetables and rice |
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(USDA/ARS) Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit (research leader), physiology |
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Molecular systematics of Acari (mites) and other arthropods and its use in studying biogeography, evolution, and the evolution of parasitism; population genetics of pest mites focusing on origins, invasive pathways, and diagnostics. |
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Avian endocrinology and molecular genetics |
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Mass spectrometry based quantitative proteomics; mammalian cell biology |
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Genetics of the immune system. NOTE: Dr. Durdik is unable to accept students at this time. |
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Investigating the molecular strategies employed by plant pathogenic fungi to co-opt host cells and cause disease |
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Poultry immunology; autoimmunity |
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Genetics of neural development, evolution of axon guidance mechanisms, embryonic development in Drosophila and Tribolium. |
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Constraints and consequences of the mass balance of multiple chemical and biochemical elements on aquatic microbial and animal community structure and ecosystem function. Aquatic bioassessment and global change biology. |
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Protein biochemistry, microbiology, and synthetic biology in using genetic code expansion techniques to incorporate noncanonical amino acids into proteins for different studies |
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Precision food safety: genotypic-to-phenotypic characterization; evolution and ecology of foodborne bacteria; application of technologies for detection, typing and control in food systems |
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Nutrient bioprocessing and delivery: Transforming agricultural and industrial by-products into alternatives for protein production such as submerged fermentation to produce fungi for human and animal consumption; microencapsulation for protection, stability, and delivery of probiotics, micronutrients, nutraceuticals, enzymes, and biopesticides |
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Development and application of statistical and machine-learning models in quantitative genetics and plant breeding. |
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Feye, Kristina (currently in Madison, Wisconsin) |
Food borne pathogens; antimicrobial resistance; microbial genetics |
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Foley, Steven (currently at FDA laboratory, Redfield, Arkansas) |
Asscoiate Director FDA Division of Microbiology: bacterial pathogenesis, zoonoses, food safety, and molecular methods for pathogen characterization |
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Molecular Epidemiology; molecular tools to identify and characterize pathogens in wildlife |
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Lab-on-a-chip design and analysis of biological substances: microorganisms, allergens, DNA, proteins |
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Molecular investigation of foodborne viruses; application of molecular methods to foodborne and waterborne virus ecology; control of microbial cross contamination from farm to fork |
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Host plant resistance and plant insect interaction |
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Skeletal muscle biology, mitochondrial biogenesis and quality control, exercise response and adaptation, dyslipidemia, obesity/diabetes, cell signaling, muscle protein synthesis. |
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Poultry veterinarian, poultry health lab director, poultry diseases |
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Computational modeling and simulation of cell-cell interactions and biochemical signaling pathways in heterogeneous tumors for improving anticancer treatments. |
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(not accepting new graduate students) |
Protein targeting, chloroplast biogenesis, agrimedicine, protein transport, recombinant protein expression. NOTE: no longer accepting students. |
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Separation of biomolecules (DNA and proteins) using microchannel electrophoresis for applications in medicinal and environmental applications. |
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Hollow fibers in artificial lung applications; hollow fibers for tissue engineering. |
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Single Molecule Fluorescence Studies of Protein Conformational Dynamics |
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Skeletal muscle development, Nutrition and metabolism |
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Molecular microbiology and genetics |
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Mitochondrial Diseases; Induced pluripotent stem cells;Bioenergetics; Cell cycle regulation; Public Outreach for mitochondrial disorders |
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Jensen, Hanna (UAMS Trauma Surgery) |
Neurological implications of cardiovascular disease and intervention; Ischemic tissue injury |
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Vaccine development to control pathogens in chickens; methodologies to control foodborne bacterial and viral pathogens |
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Jia, Yulin (Rice Research Institute, Stuttgart, Arkansas) |
Host resistance, host-pathogen interaction and co-evolution. |
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"omics" approaches to understand molecular mechanisms underlying plant defenses and insect herbivore counter defenses in crops. |
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Synthesis and reactivity of molybdenum and tungsten enzyme cofactor model complexes for reduction and oxidation of biomass derived material |
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Biocatalysis technology, nucleic acid technology, and micro/nano-biotechnology |
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Plant:insect interactions, plant gene expression, terpenoid metabolism |
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Methanogenic metabolism, physiology and ecology life on Mars; exobiology; astrobiology; bioastronomy |
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Molecular, biochemical, and genetic approaches to characterize virulence strategies deployed by plant parasitic nematodes to overcome host plant defenses |
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Poultry physiology; neurobiology |
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Protein 3-D structure, dynamics, folding and interactions |
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Genetic/genomic analysis of bacterial pathogens |
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Protein mass spectrometry, biomarkers |
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Role of bioactive components in the prevention of CVD, type 2 diabetes, and colon cancer; Bioavailability and bioefficacy of phytochemicals in pre-clinical and clinical trials |
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Human neuroscience: linking neuromodulatory systems to perception and choice. |
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Archeobacteria; Sulfur cluster proteins |
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Functional and comparative genomics of microbial stress responses. Natural variation and the physiology of microbes in the wild. Yeast and bacterial genetics, biochemistry, and molecular biology. |
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Nanofabrication, nanoscale materials science, and single DNA and protein detection |
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| The interface of the avian gut microbiome and neurophysiological systems during stress; the microbiota-gut-brain and microbiota-gut-lung axes; neurochemical-based host-microbe crosstalk; reduction of foodborne pathogens | ||
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Synthetic organic chemistry, natural product total synthesis, methods development |
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Regulation of gene expression, pathogenesis of Candida albicans |
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Bioenergetics; electron transfer reactions |
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Biomolecular simulations of protein conformational dynamics, computational investigation of structure-function relationships in proteins |
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Biomedical optics and imaging systems for diagnosis of disease |
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Genomic and epigenomic investigation of cellular and molecular regulation of skeletal muscle mass using human muscle samples, murine mouse models, and in vitro tissue culture. |
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Gene-Environment (GxE) interaction to understand phenotypic plasticity in plants; plant phenotyping; biogeochemical processes in land cover and land use effects on soil bacteria and fungi communities. |
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Early animal evolution, using marine invertebrate models (sea anemones and jellyfish, in particular) to determine key molecular, cellular and developmental factors underpinning the origin and early evolution of sensory and nervous systems |
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Materials-based approaches and optical techniques to rapidly characterize mechanical properties of cells. Fundamental interactions of viruses with liquid crystals to develop passive wearable sensors |
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Adapting CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technologies for precision medicine for genetic disease and regenerative medicine. |
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Systemic evaluation of bacterial foodborne pathogens to develop rapid diagnostics. Application of novel chemical mitigations to control bacterial foodborne pathogens. Poultry food safety and microbiology. |
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Control of animal morphology and cell behavior by dynamically expressed proteins. Genetic, molecular, and evolutionary approaches in insect models to understand how patterned gene expression organizes and shapes tissue architecture during animal development. |
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Theoretical and computational models of nanoscale self-assembling systems |
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Rice functional genomics, disease resistance, drought tolerance |
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Chromatin, histones, yeast, chromosome segregation, mitosis |
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Molecular neurobiology using Drosophila as a model. Molecular basis of rhythmic behaviors like sleep and feeding during development. Behavioral and imaging-based approaches to characterize neural circuit development. |
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Complementary experimental and modeling tools to facilitate membrane-based separation for purification of monoclonal antibodies, gene therapy products, and virus clearance in the biopharmaceutical area. |
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Development of optical biomarkers to monitor wound healing for therapy; quantification of cell-matrix interactions during fibrosis; metabolic imaging in live cells and tissues |
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Development of functional molecular imaging techniques to determine tumor response to therapy; cell metabolism in tumor microenvironments of metastatic tumors. |
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Cellular engineering methods to develop technologies for regenerative biomedical therapies. |
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Rhoads, Douglas, Director Not accepting new students |
Genetics of medically relevant metabolic diseases using the chicken as a model. Current models: hypertension/ascites and bacterial osteomyelitis. Eukaryotic and prokaryotic molecular genomics and bioinformatics; non-model organism genomics using snakes and scorpions. |
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Modelling cell signaling networks that regulate heart tissue development and structure; Bioreactors for regenerative medicine in engineered heart tissues; Machine-learning and personalized medicine approaches for predicting heart disease. |
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Physiological and biological alterations during anorexia nervosa and following weight recovery using rodent and in vitro models. |
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Genetic population structure of soybean pathogens and the molecular interactions of soybean and pathogens. |
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Protein crystallography; structure of medically or industrially important proteins |
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Developing mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapies for regenerative medicine; Epigenetic strategies for musculoskeletal regeneration; Developing pre-clinical models for cellular therapy interventions; Establishing proteomic and transcriptomic signatures of MSC lineage commitment and differentiation. |
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Microbial ecology in soil and water. Antibiotic resistance and broad host range plasmid dissemination from treated effluent. Nutrient cycling and microbial ecology in organic and sustainable agricultural production systems. |
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Germplasm development and cultivar improvement for vegetable crops; Molecular breeding including QTL analysis, marker identification and marker-assisted selection; Predictive breeding in crops |
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Tumor microenvironment, extracellular vesicles, biomaterials, tissue engineering, stem cells, and regenerative medicine |
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Development of molecular tools for precise integration of foreign genes in the plant genome and of strategies for generating environmentally safe transgenic plants |
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Bioanalytical chemistry; Bioengineering; Inflammatory responses to implants; In vivo chemical analysis of peptides and proteins |
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Organic Chemistry: carbohydrates, glycosidases, catalysis, molecular recognition, micro- and nanogels |
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The complex interplay between bacterial pathogens, microbiome and host immune system in gastrointestinal tract. |
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Insect population genetics, molecular systematics, molecular diagnostics |
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Nanostructure surface chemistry for biomedical application; sensor catalysis and nanoscale architecture |
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Fish physiology. |
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Diet and prevention of cancer and obesity. Gene-diet interactions; whole foods versus bioactive compounds; diet interventions in humans and rat models. |
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Molecular mechanisms underlying the general and specific combining ability of parental genotypes in soybean breeding. Molecular markers linked to traits of interest in soybean, including biotic and abiotic tolerance and seed composition. |
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Innovative research to enhance utilization and performance of carbohydrate-rich bioresources in a variety of food, pharmaceutical and industrial applications. |
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Mechanism and application of nanomaterials for antimicrobial therapy and cancer treatment; microbiology; biophysics; single-molecule fluorescence |
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Human skeletal muscle regeneration, cell signaling, gene expression, fatigue, atrophy |
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Behavioral genetics/genomics, developmental plasticity, and the neural mechanisms underlying sensory integration in butterflies. |
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Downstream purification of biopharmaceuticals; bioseparations; validation of virus clearance in the manufacture of protein based therapeutic ; virus purification for virus vectors and vaccine production |
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Development of regenerative biomaterials for biological implants with clinical relevancy. Remodeling of extracellular matrices for human primary and stem cells for tissue repair in muscle and vocal tissues. |
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Molecular genetics and genomics for improving fruit breeding. |
mlworthi@uark.edu | |
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Engineering, biology, and computational approaches to understand cancer mechanobiology; and mechano-metabolism; crosstalk between tumor microenvironment and cellular bioenergetics; develop novel tools to understand invasive diseases and developmental processes. |
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Computational and systems biology; Statistical modeling of biological regulatory processes; Analysis of large-scale cancer genomic data. |
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Microbiological processes in drinking water and wastewater treatments; microbial processes in biofilms |
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Evolution of genetic novelty and diversity; Genetic variation of complex traits/diseases; Molecular mechanisms and driving forces of gene formation and gene loss; Investigations involve genomics, molecular evolution, and bioinformatics, in model (fruit flies) and non-model organisms (polar fishes). |
xz036@uark.edu |