Biological & Toxicological Chemistry Faculty
| Name | Contact info | Research interests |
|---|---|---|
| Deborah
H. Bennett Assistant Professor |
Environmental and Occupational Health Department of Public Health Sciences One Shields Ave, TB 169 (530) 754-8282 Website |
Research interests focus on the fate, transport, and exposure to chemicals in a multimedia environment within the context of environmental risk assessment. |
| Andrew
J. Clifford Professor |
Nutrition 3147 Meyer Hall (530) 752-3376 Website |
Dynamics of nutrient metabolism in vivo in humans. Nutrients of special interest include folic acid, vitamin A, carotenes and phytonutrients. Research involves synthesis of nutrients tagged with deuterium, carbon-14 and/or carbon-13, administering the tagged nutrients (or intrinsically labeled foods) to human volunteers and determining the metabolic fate of the nutrients. Analytic methods used include HPLC, GC, MS, MSMS, AMS, HPLC-MS and GC-MS. physiologic compartmental models (mathematical simulations) are constructed from nutrient isotopomer ratios in tissues by time since dosing to describe the dynamics of nutrient metabolism. |
| Carroll
E. Cross Professor |
Pulmonary and Critical Care UC Davis Medical Group - Sacramento (916) 734-3564 Website |
Inhalation toxicology; studies of oxidant injury in biological systems, particularly in regards to antioxidant protection systems, protein oxidation and lipid peroxidation. |
| Anthony
J. Cornel Assistant Entomologist |
Kearney Ag. Center (559) 646-6556 Website |
Genomic studies on mosquitoes of medical importance. Particular emphasis on insecticide resistance genes and Anopheles polytene chromosome physical mapping. |
| Michael
Denison Professor |
Environmental Toxicology 4241 Meyer Hall (530) 752-3879 Webstie |
Molecular mechanisms of action of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons; Structure and function of receptors for xenobiotics and hormones; Molecular mechanisms of constitutive and inducible gene expression; Molecular approaches to development of toxicant of toxicant bioassay systems. |
| Oliver
Fiehn Associate Professor |
UC Davis Genome Center 1315 GBSF (530) 754-8258 Website |
The Fiehn research laboratory develops improved methods in analytical chemistry and bioinformatics to capture and utilize metabolomic data. These tools are employed to understand, which parts of larger biochemical networks respond to genetic perturbation or environmental stress. |
| Bruce
D. Hammock Professor |
Entomology 90 Briggs Hall (530) 752-7519 Website |
Biochemistry and physiology of endocrine regulation in insects; development of recombinant viral pesticides; disruption of chemical mediation by chemical means and biotechnology; comparative pesticide metabolism in insects and mammals; metabolism of epoxidized xenobiotics; immunochemical methodology for detection of xenobiotics. |
| Krassimira
Hristova Assistant Research Soil Scientist |
Land Air and Water Resources 3240 PES (530) 752-2412 Website |
Microbial ecology of contaminated environments; Molecular and metagenomic approaches to study microbial communities; Biodegradation of organic pollutants; Genomics, proteomics, and genetics of MTBE degrading strain /M. petroleiphilum /PM1; MTBE bioremediation, Se bioremediation; Microbial and algal biofuel production; Nanobiotechnology and biosensors. |
| Norman
Y. Kado Associate Adjunct Professor |
Environmental Toxicology 4336 Meyer Hall (530) 752-2457 Website |
Bioassay and chemical analysis of environmental complex mixtures; analysis of airborne particle and vapor-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Occupational and environmental exposure and biological monitoring of airborne toxicants. |
| Annie
J. King Professor |
Animal Science Associate Dean, CAES 150 Mrak Hall (530) 752-7150 Website |
Prevention of lipid oxidation in poultry muscle, eggs and their products; methodologies for determination of cholesterol and its oxidized derivatives in poultry muscle and eggs. |
| Walter S. Leal Professor |
Entomology 308D Briggs Hall (530) 752-7755 Website |
Molecular basis of the highly selective and sensitive insect olfactory system, in particular, the mechanism(s) involving the fast transport (and inactivation) of airborne odor molecules (pheromones and other semiochemicals) through the aqueous environment of the olfactory sensillum surrounding the olfactory receptors. Isolation, identification, and cloning of the genes encoding odorant-binding proteins and odorant-degrading enzymes and expression of proteins for structural and biophysical studies of pheromone perception. Also, I am interested in isolation, identification, and synthesis of insect pheromones and other semiochemicals. |
| Fumio
Matsumura Professor |
Director of Center for Environmental Health Sciences 4252B Meyer Hall (530) 752-6463 Fax: (530) 752-3394 Website |
Elucidating the mechanism of toxic effects of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, and neurotoxic pesticides; examination of biodegradation and environmental fate of pesticides and other environmental toxicants. |
| Krishnan
P. Nambiar Associate Professor |
Bio-organic Chemistry (530) 752-4757 Website |
Our research focuses on understanding the chemical interactions involved in macromolecular recognition relevant to biological systems and the utilization of the resulting information in the design of novel molecules with chemical and biological applications. |
| John
W. Newman Adjunct Faculty USDA-ARS-WHNRC Scientist |
Department of Nutrition 210 WHNRC / 1283O Academic Surge (530) 752-1009/(530) 754-4427 Website |
Exploring the interactions of dietary lipids, lipid transport and metabolism as they pertain to obesity and complications of obesity, including chronic inflammation and cardiovascular disease. |
| Sanjai
J. Parikh Assistant Professor of Soil Chemistry |
Land Air and Water Resources 3230 Plant and Environmental Sciences (530)752-1265 Website |
Investigating how interactions between bacteria, minerals, humic substances, and contaminants in natural environments influence biogeochemical cycling and environmental quality. Examples of my research interests include: (1) determining reaction rates of contaminant oxidation/transformation at mineral and bacteria surfaces; (2) studying the fate, transport, and reactivity of agricultural antibiotics in soils located near concentrated animal feeding operations; (3) elucidating the role of bacterial surface biomolecules in cell adhesion and biomineralization/dissolution reactions; (4) investigating the role of extracellular polymeric compounds in heavy metal biogeocycling; and (5) identifying persistent degradation products of primary pollutants and determining their bioavailability. |
| James
R. Sanborn Associate Research Scientist |
Entomology (530) 752-8465 Fax: (530) 752-1537 Website |
Development of occupational and non-occupational pesticide exposure assessment for humans; synthesis of haptens for immunoassays. |
| Taka
Shibamoto Professor |
Environmental Toxicology 4115 Meyer Hall (530) 752-4523 Website |
Genotoxicity study of food constituents. Chemistry and physiology of flavors and fragrance. Mutagens and carcinogens occurring during heat treatment of foods. Role of lipid perixidation in aging, carcinogenesis, and mutagenesis. Fate of pesticides in the environment. |
| Gary
M. Smith Professor |
Food Science and Chemistry Director, UCD NMR Facility 112 Food Sci & Tech (530) 752-6168 Website |
Mechanisms of enzyme action, heme proteins, microbial adaptation to chill and osmotic stress, nuclear magnetic resonance, dairy chemistry. (biochemistry) |
| Dean
J. Tantillo Assistant Professor |
Theoretical Organic Chemistry Chemistry 316 (530) 754-5635 Website |
Theoretical studies of bio-organic reaction mechanisms. Our research is driven by intriguing mechanistic questions and spans many areas of organic chemistry. These include enzyme catalyzed reactions, reactive intermediate promoted polycyclization (RIPP) reactions, catalyst design, physical organometallic chemistry, carbocation structures and rearrangements, pericyclic reactions, regio- and stereoselectivity of synthetically useful reactions, aromaticity, organic chemistry on metal surfaces, computational functional genomics, and computer-aided design of enzyme inhibitors. |
| Swee
J. Teh Associate Researcher |
Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology 1203 Haring Hall School of Veterinary Medicine (530) 754-8183 Website |
Research emphasis on adverse effects in the growth, reproduction and embryonic development in invertebrate, fish and shellfish populations caused by environmental endocrine disruptors and contaminants. |
| Ron
S.
Tjeerdema Professor |
Environmental Toxicology 4245 Meyer Hall (530) 754-5912 Website |
Research currently focused on investigating (1) the metabolic actions of toxic chemicals in aquatic animals using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics (environmental metabolomics); (2) the biochemical actions of toxic chemicals in aquatic animals using in vivo NMR; (3) the kinetics and biotransformation of pesticides and petroleum hydrocarbons in aquatic animals; (4) the influence of surfactants on the bioavailability of petroleum hydrocarbons in aquatic systems; (5) the dissipation of herbicides via volatilization, soil sorption, photodegradation and microbial degradation under rice field conditions; and (6) the fate of pesticides and petroleum hydrocarbons in marine mussels and sediments. Member of the Graduate Groups in Agricultural & Environmental Chemistry, Ecology, and Pharmacology & Toxicology. |
| Jean
S. Vandergheynst Professor |
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering 3040 Bainer Hall (530) 752-0989 Website |
Dr. VanderGheynst’s research involves investigating a diverse array of biological systems to address relevant problems in fields such as plant biotechnology, biofuels, and pest management. Many of the biological systems under investigation involve a variety of microbes and plant tissues. Aims of current projects include improving the storage and pretreatment of biomass for biofuel production, investigating microalgae as a feedstock for biofuels, improving the efficiency of genetic transformation in plant expression systems, and formulating microbes for long term stability. Educating the public and training future biological systems engineers are important components of her research activities. |
| Matthew
J. Wood Assistant Professor |
Environmental Toxicology Office: Meyer Hall 4247 Lab: Meyer Hall 4330 (530) 754-2271 Environmental Gene Regulation, Oxidative Stress Website |
My research group is focused on defining the biochemical mechanisms involved in the perception of and protection against oxidative stress and other toxic compounds using the model organism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Oxidative stress is caused by increased levels of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals and has been implicated in several degenerative diseases and the aging process. Reactive oxygen species can result from incomplete reduction of molecular oxygen and exposure to radiation or toxic chemicals found in the environment. To defend against oxidative stress, organisms have evolved specific signal transduction pathways that result in the increased transcription of genes involved in detoxification and protection against reactive oxygen species. By defining the molecular mechanisms by which oxidative and environmental stresses alter cellular signaling pathways and gene expression, my research group hopes to develop new technologies for monitoring and remediation of environmental toxicants. In line with the broad scope of my laboratory, we use a variety of approaches to characterize the structure and function of proteins as well as cell and molecular biology, yeast genetics and genome-wide approaches. |
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