September 2009 Spotlight: Dr. Xiaorong Lin

The 2009 American Society for Microbiology (ASM) ICAAC Young Investigator Award will be presented to Dr. Xiaorong Lin, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Texas A&M University. Sponsored by the ASM, this award recognizes early career scientists for excellence in research in microbiology and infectious diseases.

Dr. Lin's laboratory studies two environmental pathogens that represent the two major phyla in the fungal kingdom: Aspergillus fumigatus, an ascomycetous filamentous fungus causing allergies and invasive aspergillosis, and Cryptococcus neoformans, a basidiomycetous dimorphic yeast causing pneumonia and cryptococcal meningitis. Both pathogens infect mostly immunocomprised individuals (AIDS patients, transplant patients, cancer patients, and individuals under immunosuppressive therapy) and cause diseases with high mortality rates even with aggressive current antifungal treatment. The difficulty in curing fungal infections is also in part due to the development of antifungal-drug resistance. There is urgent need to understand fungal virulence and identify new antifungal drug targets.

Dr. Lin's laboratory uses a combination of microscopic, genetic, and molecular biology approaches to gain insights into the molecular bases of fungal virulence and differentiation, with the goal of seeking better approach for diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of fungal diseases.

Dr. Lin received her B.E. degree in Chemical Engineering from Dalian University of Technology and her M.E. degrees in Biochemical Engineering from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. After she obtained her Ph.D. degree in fungal biology from the University of Georgia in 2003, she worked as a postdoctoral follow at Duke University Medical Center supported by the Molecular Mycology and Pathogenesis Training Program (MMPTP). She joined the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University in January 2008. She currently serves as an academic editor for the journal PLoS ONE.

The ICAAC Young Investigator Award will be presented during ASM's 49th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 12-15, 2009 in San Francisco, California. ASM is the world's oldest and largest life science organization and has more than 43,000 members worldwide. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences and promote the use of scientific knowledge for improved health and economic and environmental well-being.

For more information on Dr. Lin's research, please visit her lab website.

July 2009 Spotlight: Drs. Duncan MacKenzie and Kathryn Vaughan

Biology professors Duncan MacKenzie and Kathryn Vaughan have been honored with Student Led Awards for Teaching Excellence for their Fall 2008 courses. SLATE awards are given in the fall and spring semesters, and are based solely on student evaluations. Dr. MacKenzie received his award for teaching his undergraduate Comparative Endocrinology class which examines where hormones came from and how they work to regulate growth, metabolism, stress, and reproduction in animals. Dr. Vaughan’s award was for her Introductory Biology II course. 

Duncan MacKenzie’s primary teaching responsibility has been Principles of Animal Physiology, a core course in the Zoology curriculum that examines how animals function and survive in diverse habitats.  He has taught other undergraduate courses including Introductory Biology, Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II, and numerous seminars, including “The Biology of Cool Animals.” 

Dr. MacKenzie has also taught Comparative Endocrinology at the graduate level as well as a variety of graduate seminars in animal physiology.  He is currently modifying his Animal Physiology class to include an independent laboratory project in which students conceive, propose, and perform  their own physiological experiments.  By incorporating written assignments and an oral presentation, this class is one of the first on campus to apply for the new communication-intensive “C” designation. 

Dr. MacKenzie’s research program focuses on the hormonal mechanisms that function to regulate growth, metabolism, and reproduction in fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Over fifty undergraduate students have participated in research projects in his laboratory.  Many have gone on to careers as university scientists, physicians, environmental educators, high school science teachers, animal care workers, and veterinarians, all with the enlightening perspective of the importance of hormones in the regulation of animal physiology. 

Dr. MacKenzie  feels that most good teaching is just common sense: do your homework, know what you are talking about, prepare your information so that it can be understood, be organized, know your room and equipment, and treat your students with respect. He feels privileged to have been a student of scientists who were truly gifted teachers, people who inspired him to pursue science as a career.  Their examples continue to motivate him to do his best in the classroom as he assumes this responsibility of inspiring his own students.

Kathryn Vaughan considers teaching to be the most rewarding part of her job. She is particularly interested in pursuing teaching methods that meet the challenge of  maximizing student engagement in active learning in a large-lecture hall setting.

Dr. Vaughan believes that the learning process begins with effective classroom teaching, and with a teacher who is clear about her expectations, while being accessible and compassionate to the needs of her students. She says, “Nothing is more satisfying to me as an instructor than having a student tell me that he is amazed at how much he is learning in my course and how much he is enjoying it.” Not only does Dr. Vaughan teach her students an appreciation of living things, she also stresses the importance of personal responsibility, punctuality, time management, and good study habits. She believes that students should be afforded many opportunities for help and enrichment, but that the responsibility for taking advantage of those opportunities should rest on the students.

Dr. Vaughan’s past research has focused on the natural history, distribution and systematics of reptiles of Texas, Mexico and the southern United States, including Texas geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus, Cyrtopodion scabrum, and Coleonyx brevis), Texas blind snakes (Leptotyphlops dulcis and L. dissectus), corn and rat snakes (Elaphe guttata, E. meahllmorum, and E. emoryi), and the blackheaded snakes (Tantilla rubra and other members of the taeniata group from Chiapas, Mexico).

This June, Dr. Vaughan will be participating in the 2009 STEMES (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Society) Conference at Vanderbilt University, sponsored by the Center to Integrate Research, Teaching, and Learning. She hopes to strengthen her teaching skills and practice new techniques for engaging students in active learning.