Molecular Biology (L211)

Since I began my appointment within the Biology Department at Indiana University in 2002 I have taught an undergraduate level course in Molecular Biology (L211). This course is popular among undergraduate students who are majoring in Biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human Biology. My section of L211 is designed for students who are interested in attending medical, dental, optometry, and graduate school. During the semester we cover a wide range of processes that govern the life of a cell. In the first half of the course we review basic genetics, the mitotic and meiotic cell cycles, replication of the genome, DNA damage and repair, transcription, gene regulation, and epigenetics. And in the second half of the class we investigate non-coding RNAs, RNA splicing and editing, RNA export, translation, protein localization and secretion, signal transduction, cell proliferation, and programmed cell death. In addition to introducing students to the basic outlines of these processes, we discuss human disorders and diseases that result when normal cell function is compromised. Students will become acquainted with the scientists that made seminal discoveries in the field of molecular biology and will become familiar with the experiments that they designed and carried out. Lastly, in this course students will be exposed to exciting cutting-edge primary literature that brings ongoing important discoveries in molecular and cell biology into the classroom.

Developmental Biology (L587)

I co-taught L587, a graduate course in Developmental Biology, from 2003-2008 and will do so again in 2017. While graduate students typically enroll in this course, highly motivated upper-level undergraduates are also encouraged to join (approval by both instructors is required). In my portion of L587, students will be exposed to a number of exciting topics that include cell division, embryonic patterning, organogenesis, axes formation, cell differentiation and stem cells, tissue injury and regeneration, gene regulation, and tissue morphogenesis. We will examine these topics from the perspective of flies, nematodes, amphibians, birds, fish, and mammals. We will integrate detailed analyses of these processes with comprehensive studies of classic and modern day experiments. During the semester students will be immersed in the primary literature and will design experiments to test theories of developmental biology.