麻豆传媒

 (he/him) studies the effects of nutritional intervention on health outcomes, identifying mechanisms by which nutrients impact gene expression and host physiology, with primary emphasis on gastrointestinal health and obesity. His lab’s research is contributing to the development of diets to help prevent obesity and other health-related issues in humans and animals.
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Swanson uses genomic biology to study nutrition-related problems in the areas of obesity and intestinal health. Both comparative and applied nutrition research projects are performed in his laboratory, including those studying human subjects, companion animals, and rodent models. A primary aim of his research group is to study the effects of diet and age on gastrointestinal microbiota abundance and activity. DNA-based techniques [e.g., quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR); next-generation sequencing] are used in the lab. Current projects are designed to evaluate the effects of dietary fibers and prebiotics, dietary lipids, and protein: carbohydrate ratio on gastrointestinal microbial populations. Key associations between intestinal microbiota, host physiology, and disease are also being studied. Another primary area of research pertains to energy homeostasis and obesity. Molecular techniques (e.g., qRT-PCR; Fluidigm; RNAseq) are used to identify mechanisms and/or metabolic pathways affected in key metabolic tissues. Adipose tissue and skeletal muscle play important roles in energy homeostasis and glucose and lipid metabolism and are the focus of several ongoing projects.
Affiliations: 
Dr. Swanson is Professor of Animal Nutrition and Nutrigenomics in the  in the  (ACES) at the . He is also interim director of the  at ACES.

 develops new soybean varieties and germplasm to help meet the growing global demand for protein and vegetable oil. He advances knowledge in soybean breeding and genetics by identifying genetic diversity using modern genetic tools with a goal of improving economically important traits in the crop.
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Diers' research advances fundamental knowledge of the genes responsible for soybean yield, protein content, and resistance to major pests. His captive breeding program releases and licenses soybean varieties for production in Illinois, with more than 15 varieties currently in commercial production. 
Affiliations: 
Diers is an emeritus professor in the  in the  (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is also a team member for the  (RIPE) project. 

 is pioneering the use of engineered microorganisms to deliver bioactive molecules and therapeutic proteins into the gut to prevent and treat gastrointestinal disease. He advances the use of engineered microorganisms for safe and sustainable production of value-added products from renewable biomass. He also optimizes genetic and metabolic processes within cells for enhanced production of target products while minimizing production of byproducts and waste.
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Metabolic engineering, which draws upon the key engineering principles of integration and quantification, is a platform technology that provides solutions to various biological problems in the context of systems and synthetic biology. In particular, Jin's lab is interested in developing and applying systematic and combinatorial methods for strain improvement for the production of fuels, chemicals, and nutraceuticals. Also, Jin would like to extend these methods for studying fundamental biology problems, such as aging and stress response. The overall goals of his research are (1) to develop useful/efficient computational and experimental tools for the dissection of complex metabolic networks in microbial cells, and (2) to create optimal strains for biotechnological processes using these developed tools.
Yong-Su earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Seoul National University in Korea before going on to earn his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. His work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Communications, eLife, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 
Affiliations: 
Yong-Su Jin is a professor in the  in the  (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is also a faculty member of the , a faculty fellow at the , and a member of the .

Andrew Leakey is Professor and Head of the Plant Biology Department, in addition to Director for the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) and adjunct faculty in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Leakey is now working on the RIPE Project with a focus on stomatal conductance. Leakey brings 20 years of experience researching the interface of physiology, genetics, and molecular biology. Leakey earned his Bachelor of Science in 1998 at the University of Sheffield, where he also earned his Ph.D. in 2003. He completed a postdoc in Steve Long’s lab from 2004-2007, then became a research fellow at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. Leakey’s research broadly addresses the need to improve the understanding of how the environment impacts ecosystem goods and services while advancing efforts to improve and protect crop production and water cycling. His focus within RIPE is to understand the genetic and physiological controls of stomatal patterning and photosynthetic water-use efficiency (WUE) through a combination of molecular genetics, quantitative genetics, and physiology.

 integrates genomics, proteomics, and synthetic biology to engineer plants with improved photosynthesis. She investigates the natural diversity in photosynthetic enzymes from non-model and emerging model species to source materials for manipulating energy harvesting and dissipation in crops.
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Leonelli's research explores the natural diversity found in photosynthetic organisms and engineers mechanisms that enhance photosynthesis in crops. For the RIPE project, Laurie's current focus is on engineering plants to use light more efficiently in the deeply shaded environment of the lower canopy. Laurie received her bachelor's degree in biological sciences at Mount Holyoke College and later earned her doctorate in plant biology at the University of California at Berkeley. She has completed postdoctoral positions focusing on photosynthesis systems biology at Berkeley and at NYU. Her work is published in several peer-reviewed journals including PNAS, The Plant Journal, and PLOS Pathogens. 
Affiliations: 
Laurie Leonelli is an assistant professor in the , part of the  (ACES) and the  at Illinois. She is also a member of the .  

Katerina Politi studied Biology at the University of Pavia in Italy. She then moved to New York, where she obtained her PhD in Genetics and Development working with Argiris Efstratiadis at Columbia University. Following graduate school, she joined Harold Varmus's lab at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and began her work on the molecular basis of lung cancer. She continues this work at Yale as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and the Yale Cancer Center.

Dr. Richman is a general internist and health services researcher. Her research interests explore the use, effectiveness, and value of preventive services. She has a specific interest in cancer screening and her current work focuses on evaluating new breast cancer screening technologies as well as use and implementation of lung cancer screening.

 (he/him) studies the genetics and breeding of internationally important crops like rice and oats to diversify the regional agricultural system and support agricultural productivity in developing nations.
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Arbelaez is a plant breeder and geneticist passionate about reducing hunger, malnutrition, and poverty around the world. In pursuit of this passion, Juan is focusing on developing varieties of spring oat (Avena sativa) and rice (Oryza sativa) with enhanced nutritional quality, helping breeders around the world develop and implement cost-effective methods and tools to accelerate breeding for multiple traits, including yield and grain quality. Additionally, Arbelaez is developing cover crop oat varieties for the Midwest to protect life-sustaining natural resources. At the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia, he worked on developing novel rice germplasm with introgressions from wild rice species to support the global rice community. Arbelaez completed his Ph.D. and post-doc in Dr. Susan McCouch’s rice genetics lab at Cornell University, working on understanding the genetic bases of tolerance to aluminum and iron toxicity, critical abiotic stresses affecting rice production in parts of South America and Africa. Prior to joining the University of Illinois, Arbelaez was a rice breeder at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), headquartered in the Philippines, where he played a critical role in the development and deployment of a global genomic selection strategy to accelerate rice improvement in irrigated environments across Southeast Asia and West Africa.
Affiliations: 
Dr. Arbelaez is an assistant professor in the  in the  (ACES) at the .

's research primarily focuses on ways to facilitate the coexistence of bats and humans in human-altered landscapes. She works to understand the roosting and foraging ecology of bats, identify best practices for studying bat ecology, characterize bat behaviors, and assess the quality of mitigation practices designed to help bats. Dr. O'Keefe collaborates with many organizations and people who interact with bats, including private landowners, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, and state agencies.
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O'Keefe's lab conducts research that facilitates the coexistence of wildlife and humans in human-altered landscapes. We focus on bats, working to understand roosting and foraging ecology, identify best practices for studying bat ecology, characterize bat behaviors, and assess the quality of mitigation practices designed to help bats. We collaborate with many organizations and people who interact with bats, including private landowners, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, and state agencies. We regularly communicate with a variety of stakeholders to share practical management solutions topics ranging from effective bat house deployments to best practices for protecting bats and their habitat during prescribed burns.
Our research encompasses distribution and population status of imperiled bats, human-wildlife interactions in urban areas, bats in anthropogenic structures, ecosystem services of forest-dwelling bats, wildlife health and ecology in managed forests, and urban ecology of bats in small cities.
Affiliations: 
O'Keefe is an associate professor and wildlife extension specialist in the  and , both part of the  at the . 

 (she/her) contributes to understanding non-chemical insect control within specialty crops systems. Her studies combine field research with molecular gut content analysis to study practical insect control applications and arthropod food webs.
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Athey is a researcher passionate about caring for specialty crops by applying non-chemical insect control. By studying molecular gut content and DNA in insects, Athey has been able to further data that indicates potential predators of herbivorous prey. Many of her other studies include the development of land cover to encourage predation of insects that damage specialty crops, integrated pest management for stink bugs, and the promising results of nonconsumptive pathways. Before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois, Athey attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha and became an undergraduate researcher, then moved on to be a senior lab technician for the Invertebrate Ecology Lab and graduate research assistant at the University of Kentucky, where she obtained her M.S. and Ph.D. She was also nominated for the University of Kentucky's Outstanding Staff Award and was the second-prize winner of the Doctor of Philosophy competition at the Ohio Valley Entomological Association.
Affiliations: 
 is an assistant professor in the  in the  (ACES) at the . She is also the principal investigator of  and a Faculty Extension Specialist with .

Laura Hetrick is a professor of art education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
As a late-in-life diagnosed autistic professor, Hetrick is focusing mainly on autistic identity and the autistic lived experience. Currently, she is working with an interdisciplinary team of scientists including a geneticist/cell & developmental biologist and a neuroscientist to explore and understand various autistic co-occurring conditions (formerly known as co-morbidities) from a neurogenetic, molecular and cellular level, and as a result, advocate for improved medical care, prevention, and maintenance for autistic adults.
Using her phenomenological lived experience as the social model of disability context for the medical model of disability findings, Hetrick hopes to address the epistemic injustice that often occurs when researching on autistics, not with autistics. In the near future, at the Beckman Institute, she hopes to research such issues as the mechanisms and processes of autistic adult cognitive development; how an autistic’s activities contribute to resilience through the adult lifespan; the development and evaluation of cost-effective and life-integrated autistic interventions using psychology, neuroscience, kinesiology, education and more; and the mechanisms underlying autistic intervention effects, including those related to behavioral, neural, emotional, motivational, and social processes.
Her doctoral scholarship concerned itself with the emergent identity formation of art student teachers: the knowledge and cultural systems through which art teaching identity conceives itself, and the ontological consequences that evolve from those identifications. Hetrick is the co-editor of the journal Visual Arts Research, a publication providing a forum for historical, critical, cultural, psychological, educational, and conceptual research in visual arts and aesthetic education.
To date, Hetrick has published one edited book, 20 peer-reviewed articles and given over 30 conference presentations and invited lectures. She is consistently invited/accepted to present at conferences, workshops and panels in the U.S., and internationally, including Canada, Finland, Jamaica, Jordan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey.
Currently, she is affiliated with the Autism Self Advocacy Network; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology; Illinois Center for Social and Behavioral Science; National Art Education Association; the Disability Studies in Art Education Special Interest Group; the Illinois Art Education Association; the United States Society for Education through Art; and the International Society for Education through Art.
Research interests

Autistic identity and autistic lived experience
Hermeneutic phenomenology & auto-ethnography
Teacher identity/subjectivity; identity development through artmaking
Fandoms/fan art as philosophical constructs

Education


Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2010

I have a Ph.D. in experimental psychology and extensive training in philosophy and neuroscience. I started out doing largely theoretical work on consciousness but then got interested in the emerging field of brain imaging. I use fMRI to study attention, consciousness, and social processing in the brain.
For more information about my research or how to get involved, please visit the website for the Consciousness.

Dr.  is a professor in the Department of  at the .
Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Illinois, Dr. McElwain received a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Developmental Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Her research focuses on social and emotional development during the first five years of life. In particular, Dr. McElwain investigates the dynamic early-life interactions between parents and children that shape children’s developing abilities to regulate stress. She adopts an interdisciplinary approach that combines neuroscience, psychophysiology, linguistics, and developmental psychology.
Dr. McElwain teaches courses on behavioral research methods and social-emotional development, and she currently serves on the Editorial Board of the American Psychologist.
Lab website:  
Research Interests:


Physiological and neural correlates of infant-mother attachment


Emotion-related dynamics of parent-child interactions


Maternal speech prosody and children's stress regulation


Parental socialization of emotion


Family-friend linkages and children's social-emotional competence


Education


Ph.D., psychology, University of Michigan, 1999


 

 studies how the plant immune system detects pathogenic bacteria that cause diseases in tomato and other vegetable crops. Her research contributes to understanding plant-microbe interactions and aids in developing plants with enhanced resistance to infection.
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Hind's research interests combine her expertise in plant-insect and plant-microbe interactions with technical skills to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of plant perception to insect feeding. Her research identifies new molecular elements involved with plant perception of insect feeding-derived signals, including molecules found on the plant or within the insect's gut. Her past research includes investigating allelic variation and receptor effects on plant immune systems, the prevalence of bacterial spot in Illinois tomato fields, and biocontrol techniques for managing crop disease. 
Affiliations: 
Dr. Hind is an assistant professor in the  in the  (ACES) at the .
 

 explores ways to advance the productivity and environmental performance of major field crops, including corn and soybean. He uses field-applied research and empirical data to identify best management practices to increase nutrient use efficiency and grain yield while minimizing the environmental footprint of food production systems.
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Preza-Fontes is a researcher passionate about conquering what he believes is the biggest challenge in agriculture today: the ability to produce enough food while conserving our soils and natural resources. As an agronomist, he is interested in enhancing nutrient efficiency within crops and finding ways to optimize no-till cropping systems by incorporating cover crops and extended crop rotation, including winter wheat, grain sorghum, and double-crop and full-season soybeans. In accordance with his interests, Preza-Fontes has worked on a project at the University of Illinois' Dudley Smith Farm to see how much farmers could lower tile drainage nitrate losses with nitrogen fertilizer application timing and cover crops, preventing the loss of corn yield. His published research includes studies on crop response to nitrogen after cover crops, the development of technological tools to monitor and manage soil nitrogen, corn yield responses at different vegetative stages of growth, and more. Preza-Fontes received his B.S. at the Federal University of Mato Grosso, contributing to sugarcane production research alongside his studies. He then attended Kansas State University for his M.S., moving to get his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. Preza-Fontes worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University before starting as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois.
Affiliations: 
Dr. Preza-Fontes is an assistant professor in the  in the  (ACES) at the . He is also a Field Crops Extension Agronomist and University of Illinois alum.

Dr. Hoskins believes the study of human communication enables students to become more ethical and successful societal members in a rapidly changing global community.
As an educator, first and foremost, Dr. Hoskins believes every classroom should meet the following three basic criteria: 1) to create a safe and supportive space for authentic reflection and expression, 2) to allow for opportunities to connect with scholarship through applied learning, and 3) to raise awareness and encourage appreciation of diverse perspectives.
Dr. Hoskins came to MTSU from New York after teaching for one year at SUNY-Oswego as a Visiting Assistant Professor. She was born and raised in Kansas (near Kansas City), where she earned her B.A. (2005) in Philosophy from The University of Missouri-Kansas City and both her M.A. (2013) and Ph.D. (2017) in Communication Studies from The University of Kansas.

Benjamin F. Stickle, Ph.D., is a Professor of Criminal Justice Administration at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He teaches courses on policing, investigations, and qualitative research methods.

PHD, University of Louisville (2015)
MS, University of Louisville (2010)
BA, Cedarville University (2005)

Stickle is actively engaged in practitioner-researcher partnerships. Leveraging his unique background has allowed numerous funded grant partnerships with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Rutherford County Correctional Work Center, Gallatin Police, Middle Tennessee Rural Reentry Program, and others.

In addition to his grant work and teaching, he is a Senior Fellow for Criminal Justice with the Beacon Center of Tennessee, an Affiliated Faculty with the Political Economy Research Institute (MTSU), and serves on the Executive Board of the Southern Criminal Justice Association. His current research focus includes package theft, police use of force and management, and emerging crime types (i.e., pet theft, crime in the sharing economy, and crime during COVID).
Selected Awards & Honors


Global Thought Leaders & Influencers (#1 for Health & Safety, #5 for COVID Business Impact, #10 for Risk Management, #21 in Supply Chain Management), Thinkers 360 (2021)


Distinguished Research Award, Middle Tennessee State University (2020) 


McGraw Hill Distinguished Scholar Award, Ethnographic & Qualitative Research Conference (2020)
 

Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award for Metal Scrappers and Thieves: Scavenging for Survival and Profit, Mid-South Sociological Association (2019)

Learn more at BenStickle.com.

Prior to joining MTSU's faculty, Williams led an accomplished career in the U.S. Secret Service. From being the first African American female to serve as a supervisor in the Washington Field Office to serving as Deputy Assistant Director, Williams set a number of significant milestones throughout her 29 years with the Secret Service.
Her areas of expertise include both foreign and domestic terrorism; community and public service engagement; intelligence; and criminal justice processes. 
Williams led the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives as the organization's 43rd president. She remains a longstanding member of the following organizations: Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE), International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), and the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 
Areas of Focus
Criminal Justice | Foreign and Domestic Terrorism | Inclusion and Diversity in Policing | National Security

PHD, University of Chicago (1998)
MA, University of Chicago (1981)
MAT, Vanderbilt University (1973)
BA, Vanderbilt University (1971)





Areas of Expertise


U.S. Social and Political History
Progressive Era
Women's History
Civic Learning across the Disciplines

PHD, University of Alabama (2001)
MA, University of Alabama (2000)
BS, University of Alabama (1996)





Areas of Expertise


Finance




Biography



Publications
Beauchamp, C. F., Graddy, D. B., Salter, S. P. , & Yang, F. (2012). The Paradox of Gender and Performance in the Introductory Business Finance Course. Journal of Financial Education, 38 (3).

Faria, J. R., Mixon, Jr., F. G., & Salter, S. P. (2012). An Economic Model of Workplace Mobbing in Academe. Economics of Education Review, forthcoming.

Salter, S. P., Mixon, Jr., F. G., & King, E. W. (2012). Broker Beauty and Boon: A Study of Physical Attractiveness and Its Effect on Real Estate Brokers' Income and Productivity. Applied Financial Economics, 22 (10), 811-825.

Salter, S. P., Johnson, K. H., & King, E. W. (2010). Listing Specialization and Pricing Precision. Journal of Real Estate, Finance, and Economics, 40 (3), 245-259.

King, E. W., & Salter, S. P. (2009). In My Humble Opinion: The Current and Future Environment of Real Estate Agent Blogging. Real Estate Law Journal, forthcoming.

Mixon, Jr., F. G., & Salter, S. P. (2009). Legislative Pay and Legislator Quality. LABOUR: Review of Economics and Industrial Relations, forthcoming.

Salter, S. P., & King, E. W. (2009). Price Adjustment and Liquidity in a Residential Real Estate Market with an Accelerated Information Cascade. Journal of Real Estate Research, 31 (4), 421-454.

Balakrishnan, A., Clark, J. M., & Salter, S. P. (2007). Eliminating the Incentive to "Let it Ride." Managerial Finance, 33 (4), 270-280.

Salter, S. P., Johnson, K. H., & Spurlin, W. P. (2007). Off-Dollar Pricing, Residential Property Prices, and Marketing Time. Journal of Housing Research, 16 (1), 33-46.

Salter, S. P., Johnson, K. H., & Webb, J. R. (2007). Theory of the Real Estate Firm: A Portfolio Approach. Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, 13 (2), 129-138.

Mixon, Jr., F. G., Salter, S. P., & Withers, M. C. (2006). Teaching Market Mechanisms and Human Capital in Economics Courses: Examples from Jersey Transactions in Professional Sports. Journal of Education for Business, 82 (1), 35-39.

Salter, S. P. (2006). NASDAQ REITs and Optimal Investment Policy. Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, 12 (3), 201-207.

Salter, S. P., Johnson, K. H., & Anderson, R. I. (2004). What's A Warranty Worth? Homeowner Warranties' Impact on Property Sales. Appraisal Journal, 72 (4).