Loren Buck , UA Anchorage Affiliate & EPSCoR appointment in 2006 – Collaborative project: Disruption of reproduction by environmental stressors. – Dr. Buck’s research group studies impacts of changing environmental conditions on the behavior and physiology (reproductive, metabolic, stress) of both marine and terrestrial organisms. Research projects in the Buck laboratory address the mechanistic linkages whereby fluctuations in the environment impact the physiology and ultimate fitness of the individual. loren@uaa.alaska.edu

Jason Burkhead , UA Anchorage - INBRE Appointment in 2009 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology of COMMD1 (Murr1) including consequences and biophysical properties of phosphatidylinositol binding; Cellular function of COMMD1 and COMMD family of proteins including roles in endomembrane sorting and metal ion transport; Molecular biology of copper in mammalian nuclei: novel influence in mRNA processing and redox biochemistry.  afjlb7@uaa.alaska.edu

Erich Follmann, UA Fairbanks Affiliate - Vaccination of arctic foxes in northern Alaska : A preliminary investigation toward reducing human exposure.   Aims to see if foxes will take vaccine baits and therefore whether enough foxes can become immune in the population so that the epizootic snuffs itself out. ffehf@uaf.edu

George Happ, UA Fairbanks INBRE Director and Principal Investigator – The role of the Francisella pathogenicity island and the immune response of arthropod hosts. Aim is to determine whether genes of the pathogenicity island modulate the immune responses of biting dipteran and tick vectors. george.happ@alaska.edu

Lisa Hofferkamp, UA Southeast Affiliate – Bioaccumulation of brominated flame retardants in sediments and forage fish.   Aim is to build from contaminant surveillance to analyses of toxicity to fish and food. lahoferkamp@uas.alaska.edu

Karsten Hueffer, UA Fairbanks & INBRE appointment in 2006– Secreted proteins encoded in the Francisella pathogenicity island. This Category A Select Agent exports proteins into the cytoplasm of mammalian cells; KH probes the effects of secreted proteins on intracellular replication and immune regulation. karsten.hueffer@uaf.edu

Miki Ii, UA Anchorage & INBRE appointment in 2007- Maintenance of genome stability mediated by homologous recombination and related DNA repair enzymes in yeast. The Ii lab focuses on homologous recombination and DNA repair enzymes whose mutations cause cancer-related syndromes and neurological disorders. Since the genes are highly conserved in evolution, research using Saccharomyces cerevisiae could provide new insights in DNA repair and maintenance of genome stability in humans. afmi1@uaa.alaska.edu

Cindy Knall, UA Anchorage Affiliate and WWAMI appointment in 2005– Regulators of Rho in Lung Epithelial Cells Exposed to Cigarette Smoke .   Dr. Knall’s work on signal transduction in innate immunity focuses on the response to cigarette smoke exposure and the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.   She studies chemokine stimulation of primary human neutrophils and the loss of bronchial epithelium integrity. afcmk@uaa.alaska.edu

Jocelyn Krebs, UA Anchorage Affiliate & EPSCoR appointment in 2001– Regulation of copper homeostasis in yeast: Role of antisense RNA and SWI/SWF chromatin remodeler in CUP1 transcription. Dr. Krebs studies chromatin structure and histone modifications in DNA repair and the response to oxidative stress, temperature stress, and toxic levels of copper, using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as model.   The Krebs lab also studies the roles of chromatin remodeling complexes in the development of the brain and eye, using Xenopus laevis as a model for congenital cataracts and Williams Syndrome. For more information on the Krebs Lab   afjek@uaa.alaska.edu

Mary Beth Leigh, UA Fairbanks Affiliate – Microbial detoxification of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil. Aim is to identify Alaska plants and associated microbes that can degrade PCBs to less toxic products and then to evaluate toxicity and health impact of the byproducts. ffmbl@uaf.edu

Todd O'Hara, UA Fairbanks Affiliate & INBRE appointment in 2003 - Chemical ecology of the piscivore gut: Impacts on partitioning and bioavailability of Hg. Aim is to determine the impact of mercury on gut parasites and microbes of fish-eating marine mammals. fftmo@uaf.edu

Jonathan Runstadler, UA Fairbanks Affiliate & INBRE appointment in 2004 – Collaborative project: Ecology of avian influenza: Microbial community ecology and impact of co-infections with gastrointestinal pathogens on zoonotic potential. This is a pilot for research collaboration with several INBRE faculty. ffjar2@uaf.edu

Naoki Takebayashi, UA Fairbanks Affiliate and Bioinformatics INBRE appointment in 2003 - UAF Affiliate – Genomic structure of suppressed recombination region. Aim is to use the plant S-locus as a model to define generalized evolutionary features of regions with suppressed recombination. ffnt@uaf.edu

Lee Taylor, UAF Affiliate and EPSCoR appointment in 2002 – Genotypes of C ryptosporidium Alaska soils .   Cryptosporidium is an emerging pathogen of health concern in Alaska . Environmental metagenomics is used to model surveillance for emergent and spreading disease agents such as this and other fungal potential pathogens.   Collaborator Louisa Castrodale (Epidemiologist, State Public Health). fflt@uaf.edu

Frank von Hippel, UAA Affiliate –Toxicology of perchlorate. Dr. von Hippel studies the effects of contaminants such as perchlorate on reproductive development, behavior and morphology in the threespine stickleback fish model. Collaborators include Todd O’Hara, Loren Buck, plus John Postlethwait and William Cresko (both of the University of Oregon). frank@uaa.alaska.edu

Loren Buck
University of Alaska Anchorage
Associate Professor Physiological Ecology of High Latitude Vertebrates

Brian Edmonds
University of Alaska Southeast
Assistant Professor Biology & Health Sciences

Karsten Hueffer
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Assistant Professor Microbiology

Miki Ii
University of Alaska Anchorage
Assistant Professor Biological Sciences

Jocelyn Krebs
University of Alaska Anchorage
Associate Professor Biology

Todd O’Hara
University of Alaska Fiarbanks
Associate Professor Wildlife Toxicology
Pre-Veterinary Medicine Program Advisor

Jonathan Runstadler
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Assistant Professor Biology & Wildlife

Marvin Schulte
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Associate Professor Neurochemistry

Naoki Takebayashi
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Assistant Professor Biology

Frank von Hippel
University of Alaska Anchorage
Associate Professor Biological Sciences