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Dr. Powell-Coffman currently serves as Associate Dean for Research in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Powell-Coffman joined the faculty at Iowa State University in 1998, and she served as the GDCB Department Chair from 2011 through 2018. Her research group at ISU has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, the National Institutes of Health, an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association and a Bailey Research Career Development Award. Dr. Powell-Coffman served as the GDCB ADVANCE Professor from 2007-2009 and was Chair of the Interdepartmental Genetics graduate program 2010 – 2011. She was selected to be one of the Founding PULSE Leadership Fellows in 2012 (Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education; www.pulsecommunity.org). Awards include the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Award for Diversity Enhancement (2011) and the ISU Award for Early Achievement in Departmental Leadership (2015).
Research Program
The Powell-Coffman research group employs a powerful genetic model system, the nematode C. elegans, to study how animals sense and adapt to their environment. A central focus of the lab has been to identify and decipher regulatory mechanisms that enable adaptation to hypoxia (low oxygen). Using genetic strategies in C. elegans, the Powell-Coffman Lab has identified novel regulators of HIF-1 hypoxia-inducible factor and has gained important insights to the regulatory circuits that control this important transcription factor. The research group also investigates the mechanisms by which animals survive other stresses, ranging from hypergravity to reactive nitrogen species.
Teaching / Scholarship of Teaching & Learning
Dr. Powell-Coffman has taught introductory biology and upper-division and graduate level courses in the areas of genetics and developmental biology. Recent grant funded projects to advance student success have included: (1) HHMI Science Education grants to increase student engagement in introductory undergraduate science courses; (2) a CIRTL (https://www.cirtl.net) project to develop discipline-based learning communities for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows; (3) an AAU-sponsored project to strengthen STEM education at ISU; and (4) implementation and assessment of PULSE workshops.
Recent Publications
- Allen T, et al (2025) Building communities of practice among undergraduate STEM departments to foster emergent transformation: a report on the impact of multiple-year engagement within the PULSE Midwest and Great Plains Regional Network. CBE Life Sciences, in press
- Feng D, Qu L, Powell-Coffman JA. (2024) Whole genome profiling of short-term hypoxia induced genes and identification of HIF-1 binding sites provide insights into HIF-1 function in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS One. 2024 May 14;19(5):e0295094. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295094. eCollection 2024.PMID: 38743782
- Feng D, Qu L, Powell-Coffman J.A. (2024) Transcriptome analyses describe the consequences of persistent HIF-1 over-activation in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS One. e0295093. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295093. PMID: 38517909
- Kang P, Liu P, Kim J, Bolton M, Kumar A, Miao T, Shimell M, O'Connor MB, Powell-Coffman J, Bai H. (2023) Ptth regulates lifespan through innate immunity pathway in Drosophila.bioRxiv [Preprint]. Oct 2:2023.09.30.560323. doi: 10.1101/2023.09.30.560323.PMID: 37873203
- Feng D, Zhai Z, Shao Z, Zhang Y, Powell-Coffman JA. (2021) Crosstalk in oxygen homeostasis networks: SKN-1/NRF inhibits the HIF-1 hypoxia-inducible factor in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS One Jul 9;16(7):e0249103. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249103.
- McHugh, M, Williams, P, Verma, S, Powell-Coffman, JA, Robertson, AP and Martin RJ (2020) Cholinergic receptors on intestine cells of Ascaris suum and activation of nAChRs by levamisole. International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance 13: 38-50.
- Addis, EA and Powell-Coffman JA (2018) Student and faculty views on process of science skills at a large research-intensive university. Journal of College Science Teaching Vol 47 pages 72-82