Advisory Board and Editors Molecular Biology
Barbara Nowak
Barbara is Professor at the University of Tasmania (UTAS), where she leads Aquatic Animal Health research group. Barbara has her PhD from Sydney University and has been working at UTAS since 1991. Her research interests focus on various aspects of fish health, such as fish parasitology, fish immunology and fish pathology. Barbara has published over 200 papers and supervised more than 30 PhD students. She has received awards for her research and supervision of PhD students.
Rodrigo Nunes-da-Fonseca
Associate Professor at the Center for Ecology and Socio-Environmental Development of Macaé, (NUPEM), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ-Macaé). Affiliate Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (2017-2021). Scientist of Our State at FAPERJ (2019-nowadays), PhD (2008) and Postdoctoral studies (2009) in Functional Genomics and Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo) at the University of Cologne, Germany.
Published more than 85 articles in specialized journals with more than 3500 citations (Google Scholar-Fator H = 24). He serves as a reviewer for several international journals (NAR, Cell Reports, Dev. Gen Evol, Dev. Biol, FEBS J, Plos One, Gene, among others) particularly in the evolutionary genetics of arthropod development.
Lorraine O'Driscoll
Lorraine O'Driscoll (BSc(Hons, Pharm), MSc(Res, Clin Pharm), MA(Ed), PhD(Biotech), FTCD) Lorraine holds a BSc(Hons),pharmacology; MSc(Res), clinical pharmacology; MA, education; PhD, biotechnology. In 2012, she was elected to Fellowship in TCD. Following her PhD, Lorraine undertook biotechnology/biomedical research for US and EU industry (including Berlex; Archport Ltd-Axonobel; MediSyn Ltd; MedaNova Ltd.) before returning to academia. At post-doctoral level, she gained experience at the Dana-Farber Harvard Cancer Institute and University of Miami. Prior to joining TCD in 2008, Lorraine most recently held the position of Senior Research Programme Leader and Lecturer in School of Biotechnology, DCU.
Her research group focuses on diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers; discovering new therapeutic targets; cancer cells communication via exosomes, microvesicles and CTCs; elucidating and circumventing resistance to targets agents and classical chemotherapy; associations between obesity, metabolic syndrome and cancer.
She has been a P.I. on 5 cancer clinical trials with ICORG. She is TCD's Principal Investigator on SFI-supported Molecular Therapeutics for Cancer Ireland; Strand Leader of Irish Cancer Society-supported Breast-PREDICT; and P.I. and Chair, H2020-supported European Network Cooperation in Science and Technology focussed on Exosomes & Microvesicles in Health & Disease which brings together researchers from around the world, in academia and industry.
Olorunseun O Ogunwobi
Dr. Ogunwobi obtained a medical degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, a master's degree in biomedicine from the University of Hull, United Kingdom, a master's degree in clinical and translational science from the University of Florida, Gainesville, and a PhD in molecular biology from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom. He was the Founding Director of the Hunter College Center for Cancer Health Disparities Research. He is now the Barnett Rosenberg Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Chairperson in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University. In addition, he will serve as Co-Director of the forthcoming Center for Cancer Health Equity Research (CCHER) at Michigan State University. He is a translational cancer biologist whose work focuses on molecular mechanisms of progression of solid organ cancers with racial disparities, and on approaches to leverage non-coding RNA biology for potential clinical applications in cancer. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, New York State, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the National Science Foundation, among others. Dr. Ogunwobi was a Founding Contact Principal Investigator of the Synergistic Partnership for Enhancing Equity in Cancer Health (SPEECH) funded by U54 grants CA221704 and CA221705 from the National Cancer Institute. An author of 74 peer-reviewed journal articles and 3 book chapters, Dr. Ogunwobi has been issued 5 US patents for biotechnology inventions with potential clinical applications in cancer. He is the recipient of the 2022 Hunter College Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship or Creative Activity, and selected as a Jefferson Science Fellow by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and as a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria. He is Co-Founder of UTR Therapeutics, Inc (winner of the 2023 XSeed Award from Deerfield), and NucleoBio, Inc.
Sonia MR Oliveira
Doctor Sonia Oliveira holds a Licenciatura in Biology (pre-Bologna) and a Master in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Aveiro, where she also specialized in medicinal plants, toxicology, murine models, and spermatogenesis. In 2011 she moved to Australia to work in Reproductive Biological Sciences. She later explored the nerve-cancer connection in Cancer, namely in female cancers, and completed her Ph.D. in Human Physiology ( with a significant component in Medical Biochemistry and Neurophysiology) from the University of Newcastle (Australia) in 2018. She then worked with biomimetic systems and nanotechnology in diabetes and stem cells. She explored multiple methods for primary and secondary cell culture, always with a keen interest in histopathology, cell biology, and rare disorders. Participated in >40 event(s). (Co-)Supervised MSc dissertation(s) and final projects for course completion of LSc/BSc. And works mostly in the area(s) of Natural sciences with emphasis on Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Medical and Health Sciences with emphasis on Neurosciences, Cancer, Reproduction, Toxicology, Biotechnology, and Stem cells. Also has collaborations in Microbiology, Biomaterials, and Communication and Information technologies.
Brenda Oppert
EDUCATION
University of Texas at El Paso (9/75-8/78), B.S. in Biology, 1978
University of Texas at El Paso (1/83-12/86), M.S. in Biology, 1986
Kansas State University (8/86-5/91), Ph.D. in Biochemistry, 1991
PROFESSIONAL
• Research Molecular Biologist (GS-15), CGAHR, Manhattan, KS (4/91-present)
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Entomology, Kansas State University (1/99-present)
Krishna Dev Oruganty
I can best describe myself as a simulation biologist. I am interested in simulating life processes at multiple scales. From the atomic scale to understand protein function to cellular or systems scale to understand physiological processes. My main tool is the computer which I use to analyze, understand and predict biology. Secondary tools are in vitro biochemistry and biophysics experiments that I use to validate my predictions.
Hilal Ozdag
Dr. Özdağ took her BSc in Biology from Hacettepe University Department of Biology on 1993. She then get her MSc degree in Biotechnology from the same department on 1995. Dr. Özdağ got her PhD on 2000 from Bilkent University Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. Her PhD dissertation was on Hereditary Breast Cancer Genetics in Turkish Population. Dr. Özdağ then moved to UK for her postdoctoral studies. As a postdoctoral research associate at Prof. Caldas’s Laboratory in Cambridge University Hutchison-MRC Research Centre Dr. Özdağ worked on chromatin modifier genes in epithelial cancers.
Dr. Özdağ is leading her own research group at Ankara University Biotechnology Institute, Systems Biotechnology Advanced Research Unit (SISBIOTEK) since 2005. The team is conducting studies aiming to discover theranostic marker for colorectal cancer.
Luis G. C. Pacheco
Dr. Luis Pacheco is currently an Associate Professor of Biotechnology (Molecular Biology) at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), in Salvador-BA, Brazil. During 2019, he has also been working as a Visiting Researcher at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Boston-MA, USA. He received his 2010 PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from a leading university in Brazil, the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), with an international split-site scholarship period (2008-2009) at the University of Warwick, in the United Kingdom. His research is focused on using functional genomics and synthetic biology approaches for development of novel genetic tools with broad applications in biotechnology, particularly in the fields of diagnostics of infectious diseases and therapeutics of inflammatory diseases.
Amaresh Chandra Panda
Dr. Panda obtained his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from National Centre for Cell Science, University of Pune, India. He worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow for five years at the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Baltimore, USA. He also worked as an Assistant Scientist at the University of Miami, Miami, USA, and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Colorado, Denver, USA. His studies have uncovered new mechanistic details of the post-transcriptional regulation by RNA-binding proteins, microRNAs, and circular RNAs in physiological processes, including insulin production, myogenesis, and cellular senescence. In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Intermediate Fellowship by Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance. Currently, he is working as a Scientist-D at ILS Bhubaneswar under the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. His research group at ILS is working to understand the role of poorly characterized circRNAs in muscle regeneration and insulin biosynthesis.
Anurag N Paranjape
Passionate about understanding the mechanisms governing cancer metastasis with a hope of finding new targetable pathways. Have worked on breast cancer stem cells, EMT, prostate cancer stem cells, breast cancer brain metastasis, and blood-brain barriers.
Tanya Parish
Tanya Parish a Principal Investigator in the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine.
Her work focuses on the discovery of new drugs that are effective at curing drug-sensitive and drug-resistant tuberculosis with the added goal of shortening the time it takes to cure disease. This encompasses a range of early stage drug discovery including drug target identification and validation, high throughput screening and medicinal chemistry. In addition, her group works to understand the pathogenic mechanisms and basic biology of the global pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis and using this information to inform drug discovery.
Tanya is a microbiologist by training, with a background in mycobacteriology. She received her PhD at the National Institute for Medical Research investigating gene regulation in mycobacteria followed by postdoctoral research at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine studying several facets of the biology of M. tuberculosis. She previously held an academic post as Professor of Mycobacteriology at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, and was a Senior Vice President (Drug Discovery) at the Infectious Disease Research Institue.
Tanya has edited several books on mycobacteria and published numerous papers on the basic biology and genetics of M. tuberculosis.