Our Faculty
Our faculty members span six Departments/Schools (Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, Comparative Pathobiology, Forestry & Natural Resources, and Health Sciences) across five colleges (Agriculture, Engineering, Health and Human Sciences, Science, and Veterinary Medicine). We use different techniques in our research projects. Yet, the zebrafish model joins us together.
Our research interest covers a wide variety of topics, including cancer, development, disease modeling, drug discovery, immunology, neuroscience and toxicology.
Please see below for the information of our individual faculty members.
Claudio Aguilar
Associate Professor, Assistant Head
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Science
Email: claudio@purdue.edu
Website: https://twitter.com/purdue_aguilab
My laboratory is focused in the study of protein trafficking and membrane transport in relation to the processes of cell polarity establishment (a feature that is key for animal development and crucial for physiological functions such as synaptic transmission and immune response) and carcinogenic transformation. In order to pursue our research goals we routinely use genetic, biochemistry and cell biology techniques with yeast and mammalian cells. We study protein-protein interactions at molecular level by using bioinformatics, biochemical and genetic tools (like the two-hybrid system) and we investigate the physiological relevance of these interactions by using functional assays, microscopy (of live and fixed cells) and genetic approaches.
Esteban Fernandez-Juricic
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Science
Email: efernan@purdue.edu
Website: http://www.estebanfj.com/
My research is question-driven, and is focused on behavioral ecology, visual ecology, and conservation biology. I answer my questions in a comprehensive manner, using a combination of empirical, theoretical, and comparative approaches. My model species are usually birds, but I have also worked with mammals, amphibians, insects, and fish.
I am interested in two research areas at the moment:
- Behavioral ecology and sensory ecology: the role of ecological factors in the evolution of avian visual systems in species with different degrees of sociality.
- Conservation biology: human-wildlife interactions in urbanized landscapes, protected areas, and airports.
My lab combines techniques to characterize different properties of the avian visual system (visual fields, retinal topography, visual acuity, color vision) with behavioral experiments in controlled conditions (indoors and outdoors) and field observations.
Jennifer Freeman
Associate Professor
School of Health Sciences
College of Health and Human Sciences
Email: jfreema@purdue.edu
Website: https://www.purdue.edu/hhs/hsci/directory/faculty/freeman_jennifer.html
he interests of the Freeman laboratory are to define the underlying genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of toxicity of environmental stressors with current focus on pesticides, metals, radiation, and emerging contaminants. Projects are defining the immediate adverse impacts of a developmental exposure, the lasting adverse impacts of this developmental exposure throughout the lifespan, and the analysis of subsequent generations linking genetic, epigenetic, and phenotypic assessments. These studies are investigating the developmental origin of health and disease pathogenesis with a specific focus on neurological disorders, reproductive dysfunction, cardiovascular function, and cancer with a goal of understanding the role of exposure to the environmental stressors in these adverse health outcomes.
Yuk Fai Leung
Associate professor
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Science
Email: yfleung@purdue.edu
Website: https://www.bio.purdue.edu/lab/leung/index.html
Retinal degeneration is a group of inherited eye diseases including retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration that impair our vision. Although much has been learned about the molecular basis of these diseases, they are still incurable. To expedite discovery of new drugs for these diseases, our group studies zebrafish retinal-degeneration models.
The research interests of our lab are currently focused in two directions:
1. Rapid drug discovey for retinal degeneration
2. Gene network for disease and drug action
Joseph Ogas
Associate Head & Associate Prof of Biochemistry
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
College of Agriculture
Email: ogas@purdue.edu
Website: https://ag.purdue.edu/biochem/Pages/Profile.aspx?strAlias=ogas&intDirDeptID=9
Deng Qing
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Science
Email: qingdeng@purdue.edu
Website: https://www.bio.purdue.edu/lab/deng/
Our lab is interested in the mechanisms that regulate neutrophil migration and activation, more specifically their response to tissue injury and infection. The neutrophil is a hallmark of inflammation and neutrophilic inflammation, if not properly resolved, is the driving force behind a spectrum of human inflammatory diseases. Hopefully, our understanding of neutrophilic inflammation will help alleviate diseases such as arthritis, cancer and auto-inflammation. We are also interested in understanding pathogen-host interactions using zebrafish model and the strength relies on the combination of the genetics in both systems. We want to create a lab where happy scientists do solid science.
Estuardo Robles
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Science
Email: roblese@purdue.edu
Website: https://www.robleslab.com/
Maria Sepulveda
Professor and Associate Head for Research
Department of Forestry & Natural Resources
College of Agriculture
Email: mssepulv@purdue.edu
Website: https://www.purdue.edu/fnr/sites/sepulveda/
- Ecotoxicology with special emphasis on evaluating the sublethal effects of contaminants and other environmental stressors on the developmental and reproductive physiology of aquatic organisms
- Development and application of molecular biomarkers of exposure and effects to environmental contaminants, including genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics
- Impact of diseases on wildlife populations, with special interest on parasitic diseases
Daniel Suter
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Science
Email: dsuter@purdue.edu
Website: http://suterlab.bio.purdue.edu/
The Suter lab is interested in understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of cell motility. We are currently focusing our research efforts on directional movements of neuronal growth cones, which are highly motile structures at the tip of axons and dendrites. Growth cones are sophisticated signaling devices, capable of detecting information in the environment and transducing it towards the dynamic cytoskeleton that ultimately drives the motility. Understanding these mechanisms is not only important for neuronal development, but also to design strategies that overcome neuronal degeneration after injuries and diseases.
David Umulis
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
College of Engineering
Email: dumulis@purdue.edu
Website: https://engineering.purdue.edu/UmulisLAB
The focus of our research is to investigate the regulation of signal transduction in development. There are three main focuses in our laboratory that can be found under the research tab. The first main topic is modeling, analysis, and discovery of Bone Morphogenetic Protein signaling networks in Drosophila stem cells maintenance and embryo development. The second is developing new methods for data/model integration in biological engineering. Lastly, systems analysis of BMP pattern formation in zebrafish.
GuangJun Zhang
John T. and Winifred M. Hayward Associate Professor of Genetic Research, Genetic Epidemiology, and Comparative Medicine
Department of Comparative Pathobiology
College of Veterinary Medicine
Email: gjzhang@purdue.edu