UO PREP Bio Faculty

Developmental genetics and genomics of evolution in natural fish populations and quantitative population genomics.

Professor (Department Head), Chemistry & Biochemistry (IMB associate)
 

Chemical biology of nucleic acids and proteins with a focus on metal interactions and molecular sensing.

 

Neural progenitors in Drosophila—temporal and spatial programming that generates neuronal diversity and assembles motor circuits.

Cellular, genetic, and microbiological mechanisms of neural development using zebrafish, including roles of microbiota and immunity.

Prion-like regulation by RNA-modifying enzymes and methods to map RNA chemical modifications in vivo.

Neurophysiology of action control—how the brain prepares, initiates, and cancels movement in health and disease.

How developmental symmetry is broken and maintained, including cilia-driven flows, mechanotransduction, and cell polarity.

Professor of Biology (IMB; Director, META Center for Systems Biology)
 

Studies how hosts and their microbial communities shape each other during development and disease using zebrafish and fruit fly models.

Investigates how cells generate dynamic spatial heterogeneity in membrane-orchestrated signaling reactions.

Associate Professor of Biology (IMB)

Explores how proteins evolve by linking biophysical properties to evolutionary change using phylogenetics and high-throughput experiments.

Develops protein-delivery biomaterials for regenerative medicine by integrating protein engineering, polymer chemistry, and computational design

 

Designs new biomolecules—peptide therapeutics, biosensor modules, and enzymes—using advanced computational tools.

Examines neural control of breathing and how early-life stressors (e.g., neonatal inflammation, perinatal opioids) disrupt its development.

Dissects neural circuits of auditory cognition to learn how brains assign meaning to sounds and how disorders alter these processes.

Uses spatial population genetics and machine-learning approaches to study how selection shapes genomic variation.

Investigates how developing sperm and eggs choose DNA repair templates to ensure faithful genome inheritance across generations.

Probes structure and dynamics of macromolecules in living environments, including protein motions and DNA-interacting molecular machines.

Studies how flexible behavior emerges from collective neural dynamics in cortical networks.

Investigates formation of functional neural circuits, including electrical synapses, octopus visual system development, and zebrafish single-cell atlases.

Explores how visual circuits compute and adapt through development and experience, including comparative studies in octopus.

Studies cytoskeletal regulation and how activators such as WASp/Scar stimulate the Arp2/3 complex.

Builds high-throughput technologies to engineer protein-based biological systems at scale.

Uses synthetic chemistry to probe the chemical biology of reactive sulfur species.

Applies population genetics and computational biology to assess the accuracy and equity of forensic DNA methods and to study the evolution of gene expression.

Investigates neural mechanisms of olfaction in mice by linking circuit activity to odor-guided behavior.

Studies how bacterial pathogens adapt their physiology to host environments and how those adaptations affect human health.

Probes molecular control of cell behaviors driving vertebrate organ development and regeneration.

Examines how human brain networks generate and control movement and how disorders such as Parkinson’s disrupt these processes.

Professor of Psychology (ION)
Studies how cortical microcircuits encode and transform complex sensory information, using mouse auditory cortex as a model.

Uses biophysical methods to reveal structures and dynamics of RNA and RNA–protein complexes.