September 2009: GDCB welcomes two new faculty

New faculty, Julie Kuhlman and Stephan Schneider (top left in photo), assistant professors in genetics, development and cell biology, were welcomed by other GDCB faculty at a luncheon held in their honor in the Molecular Biology Building on Wednesday, September 9, 2009. Drs. Kuhlman and Schneider, who are husband and wife, arrived in Ames with their two young children at the start of the fall semester. They will each have a research laboratory in Science Hall II.

Dr. Kuhlman received her Ph.D. in Cell Biology at Cornell University Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences and most recently was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Using zebrafish genetics to identify molecular pathways involved in neural crest cell specification, Dr. Kuhlman will study molecular and cellular development of neural crest derivatives, and morphogenesis, development, and function of the peripheral nervous system. In addition, her research interests include the characterization of the zebrafish enteric nervous system and comparison of the enteric nervous system in vertebrate model systems.

Dr. Schneider, who received his Ph.D. in Genetics from the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, was a Group Leader at the Institute for Molecular Biology at the University of Oregon, Eugene before joining the faculty of GDCB. He is interested in the evolution of developmental and cell biological mechanisms, their genesis of animal form and function. His research will focus on the early development of the polychaete annelid Platynereis dumerilii, especially its early asymmetric cell divisions and their role within the early gene regulatory networks. He is also interested in the reconstruction of ancestral features especially the developmental properties of the last common ancestor of fruit fly, nematode, sea urchin, and vertebrate – the bilaterian ancestor or more specifically the protostome/deuterostome ancestor.

Dr. Martin Spalding, GDCB department chair, said “it is wonderful to be able to welcome Stephan and Julie to our faculty, especially in these tight economic times. With their addition, we are continuing our tradition as a department of hiring top notch researchers who also are and will continue to be excellent colleagues”. He encourages everyone in the department to “please take the time to welcome them when you see them and to offer any assistance as they try to get their new professional homes organized.”