B.A., Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, May 1976.
Ph.D., Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, May 1988. Dissertation title: Physical Chemical Characterization and Biological Activities of Serum-released Lipopolysaccharides; Dissertation advisor: David C. Morrison, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral fellowship, Department of Microbiology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, 1988 – 1992. Post-doctoral advisor: Alison D. O’Brien, Ph.D.
I am a graduate of Mr. Jefferson’s Academical Village (the University of Virginia) and Emory University. I completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Alison O’Brien at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. I joined the faculty at Texas A&M University as an Assistant Professor on August 1, 1992, and rose through the ranks to Associate Professor (with tenure) in 1998 and Professor in 2005. I study how Shiga toxins, a family of genetically and structurally related ribosome-inactivating proteins, cause disease in humans. I have been fortunate to work with outstanding graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and colleagues to publish over 60 articles. Our work has been funded by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, General Medical Sciences, and Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases. I currently serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Toxins, and I’m a long-serving member of the Editorial Board of Infection and Immunity. I have served as the dissertation committee chair for 8 graduate students, and served as a member on dissertation committees for 27 additional graduate students. I have served as an ad hoc grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health, the Wellcome Trust, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. My past administrative service includes Associate Department Chair and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Curriculum Management. I currently serve as the Vice President for Academic Affairs for the Texas A&M Health Science Center.