Skip redundant pieces

The University of Kansas Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) Post-Doctoral Program


Current IRACDA Post-Docs

  • Michelle Gill
    mlgill@ku.edu
    Pharmaceutical Chemistry
    Mentor: Russ Middaugh
    Research: Our research is focused on elucidating the relationship between protein dynamics and stability. Gaining a deeper understanding of this relationship will enable us to develop novel techniques for stabilizing vaccines.


  • Allison Scoville
    alison@biology.usu.edu
    Ecology and Environmental Biology
    Mentor: John Kelly
    Research: I use both theoretical and empirical approaches to investigate fundamental questions in evolutionary biology, with an emphasis on incorporating the complexity inherent in natural populations. We are currently focused on understanding the role of genetic and developmental architecture in shaping standing variation and evolutionary trajectories in floral traits of Mimulus guttatus.

Former IRACDA Post-Docs

  • Claudia Bode
    Pharmacology and Toxicology
    Mentor: Kathy Mitchell
    Teaching: General biology, General Biology Lab, Bioinformatics
    Research: Our research focuses on the differentiation capacity of stem cells isolated from the matrix of the umbilical cord.


  • Muir Eaton
    Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center- Ornithology Division
    Mentor: A.T. Peterson
    Teaching: Ecology Lab, General Biology Lab
    Research: My research interests center on comparative evolutionary biology and more specifically on the evolution of plumage colors in birds. I am interested in how hidden color variation in conspecific plumages relates to our understanding of sexual selection, and whether there is any evidence of correlated evolution of plumage colors, visual sensitivity, and habitat use (i.e. light environment and/or ecological niche).


  • Maria Eifler
    Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    Mentor: Deborah Smith
    Teaching: Animal Behavior, Principles of Ecology
    Research: My research focuses on using molecular genetics to answer questions in animal behavior and ecology. Two of my current projects are on kinship in overwintering rattlesnakes and the evolution of sociality in spiders.


  • Ann Manzardo
  • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
    Mentor: Dr. William Gabrielli
    Teaching: Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry
    Research: My research uses a 45-yr old Danish longitudinal database to
    study the contributions of early childhood brain growth and injury to
    the later development of alcoholism in adulthood.


  • Brena Mauck
    Geology Department- Geomicrobiology laboratory
    Mentor: Jennifer Roberts
    Teaching: Cellular and Molecular Biology Lab, General Biology
    Research: Dr. Roberts’ lab focuses on microbe:mineral interactions and the geological and ecological implications of these interactions in subsurface environments. My role is to analyze changes in microbial community diversity due to particular environmental conditions and stresses. Recent work is exploring whether in nutrient limited environments microbes attach to minerals that provide the limiting nutrient. Our study site is a petroleum contaminated aquifer in Bemidji, MN.


  • Aaron Reed
  • Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center- Mammalogy Division
    Mentor: Norm Slade
    Teaching: Biostatistics, Wildlife Ecology, Vertebrate Zoology
    Research: My research focuses on population ecology in small mammals.
    Specifically I am using a long-term data set of 4 species of small mammal to
    examine interrelationships of vital rates (e.g., survival), density
    dependence in recruitment, and relation of vital rates to environmental
    variables. The ultimate goal of this work is to assess the effect of
    variability in vital rates, and the pattern of that variability, on
    structured demographic models. I also am starting work that examines the
    role of small mammal disturbance on nitrogen cycling.

  • Ellen Tarr
    Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    Mentor: Helen Alexander
    Teaching: Biology 101 Lab, Ecology of Infectious Disease
    Research: My research is on the identification of disease resistance genes in Carex blanda. We are using the sedge Carex blanda and its smut pathogen, Anthracoidea blanda, as our disease system. My broader research interest is in host-pathogen interactions, with a particular interest in parasitic nematodes.


  • Sandy Vigil-Cruz


  • Michael Wacker
    Molecular Biosciences
    Mentor: James Orr
    Teaching: Principles of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Research Design and Methods in Science
    Research: We are currently investigating if the endogenous agent, thromboxane A2, is able to directly stimulate cardiac nerves or cardiac myocytes to induce arrhythmias or other alterations in cardiac function. I also work on projects related to genetic polymorphisms that relate to obesity with Phil Gallagher in the Applied Physiology Lab as well as serotonin knockout mice with Steve Fowler in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department.