In this episode, Veronika and Sam talked to Dr. Masako Suzuki. Dr. Suzuki is an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Texas A&M University. She received her DVM at Iwate University in 1998 and her PhD at Gifu University in 2002. Her lab’s research focuses on how the prenatal environment, such as vitamin A deficiency, affects the offspring’s cells later in life. If you want to know more about the Genetics program at Texas A&M or the research discussed in this episode, ...

In this episode, Veronika talked to Dr. Matt Moutlon. Dr. Moulton is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M. He received his Bachelor's at Brigham Young University and his PhD at the University of Utah. His lab focuses on delineating the molecular mechanisms of genes associated with neurological disease, especially Alzheimer’s disease by utilizing the genetic model organism, Drosophila melanogaster If you want to know more about the Genetics program at Texas A&am...

In this episode, Veronika and Sam spoke with Dr. Dmitry Kurouski. Dr. Kurouski is an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M University. He received his Bachelor's and Master of Science at the Belarussian State University and his PhD at the State University of New York at Albany. His lab focuses on many different topics, from lipids in neurodegeneration, plant diseases, nanostructures, and forensic hair analyses. We hope you enjoy! If you want to...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone! In this episode Anthony talked to Sarah Ingram, a 4th-year PhD candidate in the Interdisciplinary Genetics program at Texas A&M, a US Navy veteran, and a 2024 Tillman Scholar. She returned to academia after 9 years of military service and received her undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University- Texarkana. Currently, she studies under Dr. Shaunna Clark in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and her research focuses on the ...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone! In this episode, Charles spoke with Dr. Matt Sachs. Dr. Sachs is a professor in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University who received his Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry from Cornell University and PhD in Biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on the mechanisms controlling protein synthesis, such as in Neurospora crassa. Dr. Sachs is also a practiced yogi (!) and we invite you to listen in as he discuss...

Howdy, and welcome to Blue Genes and Boots everyone! In this episode Sam and Veronika spoke with third year GENE students, and newly minted PhD candidates, Emmarie Alexander and Tyler Chan. Emmarie came to our program from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and she currently studies under Dr. William Murphy. Tyler previously attended The University of Alabama - Huntsville, and he now studies under Dr. Zachary Adelman. Emmarie and Tyler sat down with us and talked abou...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Veronika talks to Dr. R. Graham Reynolds. Dr. Reynolds is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of North Carolina Asheville and an associate at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. He received his B.A. in Biology from Duke University and his PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. Reynolds is an expert in vertebrate evolution and endangered species biol...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Sarah talked to two speakers from the 2024 Genome Editing Symposium at Texas A&M: Dr. Paul Christou and Dr. Makoto Saito. Dr. Christou is an ICREA research professor at Universitat de Lleida (UdL) Life and Medical Sciences. Dr. Saito is a senior scientific fellow conducting post-doctoral research in Dr. Feng Zhang’s lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology McGovern Institute. We invite you to listen in on what they have to...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Anthony talks to Dr. George Church. Dr. Church is a Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and founding Core Faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. He received his PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology at Harvard University in 1984. H...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Samantha and Sarah talk to Dr. Qing Sun, one of our Genetics and Genomics Faculty members. Dr. Sun is an assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University. She received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware and did her postdoctoral training at the Synthetic Biology Center at MIT. Her lab uses synthetic biology to improve human health and the environment...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Sarah and Veronika talk to Dr. Seth Murray. Dr. Murray is a professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and Eugene Butler Endowed Chair in Agricultural Biotechnology at Texas A&M University. He received his B.S. in Crop and Soil Science at Michigan State University and Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics at Cornell University. His research focuses on the breeding, quality, and genetics of maize (aka corn), and he is the...

Howdy, and welcome to Blue Genes and Boots everyone! In this episode, Sarah spoke with four undergraduates from universities across the county who participated in our Summer Undergraduate Research in Genetics and Genomics (SURGe) program.The National Science Foundation SURGe Program is a 10-week intensive research experience under the mentorship of one of our Faculty of Genetics and Genomics members that includes a 3-credit hour Bioinformatics class. The credits are transferable to their home...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots everyone! In this episode, Anthony Matarazzo speaks with Veronika Mojik and Charles Mitchell, two current PhD students in the TAMUGENE program. Veronika obtained her undergraduate degree from The University of North Carolina - Asheville and studies under Dr. Hubert Amrein. Charles' undergraduate studies were completed at The University of Texas - Dallas, and he is advised by Dr. Dmitry Kurouski. They've just finished up their first year of graduate studies and ...

In this episode Veronika Mojik talks with third year PhD candidate Mayra Mendoza about what it's like to traverse graduate school while being a mom to two boys! They also discuss Mayra's research on the alpaca genome and the in's and out's of running a cytogenetic service lab within an academic setting.

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Emmarie and Sarah talk to Dr. Jessica Light, a professor and curator of mammals in the Ecology and Conservation Biology department at Texas A&M University. She received her B.S. in Biology and Resource Ecology and Management at the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in Zoology at Louisiana State University. Her lab uses molecular and morphological data to study the evolution of distantly related taxa, such as between mammals and...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Emmarie and Veronika talk to Dr. Harmit Malik, a professor and associate director of the Basic Science Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington. He received his BTech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Rochester. His lab studies the evolution of genetic conflict in Drosophila, primates, and yeast, with a focus on centromeres, viruses, an...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Emmarie and Serina talk to Dr. Bruce Walsh. Dr. Walsh is an Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor at the University of Arizona. He earned his Ph.D. in genetics at the University of Washington and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago and the University of California, Davis. His research uses mathematical models to better understand the evolution of genetics and complex traits.If you want to know more about the re...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Emmarie and Serina talk to Dr. Adam Phillippy. Dr. Phillippy is the director of the Center for Genomics and Data Science Research and the head of the Genome Informatics Section at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). His research focuses on developing computational tools for genomic analysis, such as genome assembly. His team has developed many widely used bioinformatic tools and assembled the genomes of diverse speci...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Khushboo and Sarah talk to Lilia Sanchez. Lily is a postdoctoral researcher who successfully defended her dissertation in Fall 2023! She is in Dr. Weston Porter’s lab where she has studied mitochondria and mammary gland development. If you want to know more about the Genetics program at Texas A&M or the research discussed in this episode, please visit the following websites:Porter lab: https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/d...

Welcome to Blue Genes and Boots, everyone!In this episode, Serina talks to Dr. Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis. Dr. Carvunis is a computational and systems biology assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She earned her PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Grenoble and was awarded the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award in 2019. Her research focuses on the mechanisms behind changes during evolution using tools such as bioinformatics and yeast genetics.If you want ...