New Faculty...

Milan K. Bagchi, associate professor in Molecular & Integrative Physiology, studies mechanisms of gene regulation by steroid and thyroid hormones.

Michel Bellini, from Pierre & Marie Curie University, Paris, France, joined Cell & Structural Biology as an assistant professor. His research is designed to help define the functional organization of organelles in the nucleus, and their role in molecular events regulating gene expression.

Chi-Hing Christina Cheng, who earned her PhD from UIUC, joined Animal Biology as an assistant professor. Her research involves the molecular evolution of antifreeze proteins in cold-water fishes in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. She will be teaching general evolutionary biology as well as molecular evolution.

C. Lee Cox, who earned his PhD from the University of California-Riverside, is an assistant professor in Molecular & Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology. His research focuses on understanding cellular mechanisms underlying behavioral plasticity. He concentrates on the neurophysiology and pharmacology of neocortical and thalamic neurons in the mammalian central nervous system.

James Dalling, who received his PhD from Cambridge University, is an assistant professor in Plant Biology. Dalling has field work and lecturing experience in Jamaica and Panama and based on his expertise in tropical ecology is an honorary lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, Scot-land. His research focuses on processes that maintain species and life history diversity in plant communities, and in the application of methods in plant population and com-munity ecology to manage tropical forests. Prior to joining UIUC, he worked for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. He will be teaching courses on community and landscape ecology.

Huey Hing, assistant professor of Cell & Structural Biology, is studying signaling mechanisms that allow neurons to extend axons with great precision over long distances to reach target cells, using Drosophila as a model system. Hing received his PhD from Yale University and was a postdoctoral associate at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ziwei Huang, associate pro-fessor of Biochemistry, focuses his research on understanding the chemical basis of molecular recognition in protein-protein and protein-ligand complexes and then translating that knowledge into the discovery of new drugs. He earned his PhD from the University of California, San Diego.

Kimberly Hughes will join the department of Animal Biology in January as an assistant professor. Hughes’ research focuses on mechanisms that maintain genetic variation within populations, including life-history traits, sexual selection, mate choice, and aging. She is also involved with conservation genetics to help manage sensitive species and habitats. Hughes earned her PhD from the University of Chicago.

Andrei Kuzminov, who earned his PhD from the Institute of Cytology & Genetics, Novosibirsk, Russia, is an assistant professor in Microbiology. His research activities assess the phenomena associated with DNA damage formation and its subsequent recombinational repair. He will teach a class on the molecular biology of microorganisms.

Tzumin Lee, assistant professor of Cell & Structural Biology, earned his PhD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and then went on to a post-doctoral position at Stanford University. His research focuses on the development of the Drosophila central nervous system, particularly molecular mechanisms underlying neural circuit formation and reorganization. Such information may lead to novel therapeutic interventions for developmental and degenerative neurological disorders.

This newsletter is published by the School of Integrative Biology and the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Editor: Jana Waite.  Send comments and suggestions to j-waite@life.uiuc.edu

Updated 12/07/00