Biological Sciences

About
Program Highlights
Faculty

The study of biological sciences at St. Mary’s University includes a broad-based curriculum and extensive scientific training designed to prepare well-rounded health care professionals. Students develop written and oral communication skills, critical thinking and analytical skills, and an understanding and respect for ethical and moral concerns. Because our students display competence, dedication and compassion, they are readily accepted into graduate programs, the health professions, biomedical research and teaching fields.

The program in biological sciences is built upon a rigorous study of biology and includes courses in chemistry, physics and mathematics that satisfy professional school entrance requirements.

Advanced biology electives include anatomy, general physiology, microbiology, genetics, embryology, endocrinology, cell biology, neurophysiology, comparative physiology, recombinant DNA technology, advanced nutrition and metabolism, immunology, medical microbiology and molecular biology. The final year includes a two-semester biochemistry course. Many biology majors also choose to minor in chemistry.

Program Highlights

Students in the biological sciences program have been accepted into numerous internship and summer programs at universities around the country, including Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Loyola University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Southwest Research Institute, Texas A&M University and the University of Michigan.

Students can apply for admission to cooperative partnership programs with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in the following fields of study: clinical laboratory sciences, respiratory care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, medicine, dentistry and physician assistant.

Research Laboratories

The Department of Biological Sciences is housed in the Moody Life Sciences Building, which includes faculty offices, lecture and seminar facilities, research labs, a recently renovated animal facility, a stock room, a large laboratory for introductory classes, four laboratories for advanced courses and a computer laboratory.

The department is well supplied with modern equipment essential for studies in cell and molecular biology, microbiology, immunology and biochemistry.

Two of the advanced labs and the computer lab were constructed in 1996 as part of a suite of labs and support facilities using funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Much of the department's instrumentation and equipment has been purchased in the last few years, using University resources as well as funding from the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Available instrumentation and equipment includes: U.V. trans-illuminators and digital- and photo-documentation systems; DNA amplification and sequencing apparatus; Micro-centrifuges; Heated water baths; A DNA hybridization oven; A Class II bio-safety hood; A variety of vertical and horizontal gel electrophoresis systems; An autoclave; A computer operated micro-titer plate reader; Bioresearch grade water purification systems; Two high speed refrigerated centrifuges and assorted rotors; Walk-in refrigerated and heated environmental chambers; Shaking water baths; A refrigerated water bath; -70 and -20 freezers; Tissue culture and bacteriological incubators; Liquid scintillation and gamma counters; Several U.V. scanning spectrophotometers, Digital analytical balances; Electrophoresis equipment and power supplies; epi-fluorescence and visible light microscopes; A video microscopy workstation.

Students in our advanced courses use recently purchased Nikon Alphaphot2 microscopes. In addition, the computer lab used by faculty and students houses 13 Macintosh PowerPC computers. These computers are used for research and course work, and they all have Internet access.

Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society

The Delta Pi chapter of Beta Beta Beta at St. Mary’s University is open to students with an interest in biology. Our chapter attracts students whose career interests cover a broad segment of the health professions and biomedical research. A number of chapter goals are continually met, goals which include increasing our participation in community service projects, interacting more with other student organizations through a strong presence in student-sponsored events, and bringing in a number of health professionals to discuss career choices with our membership. Please don't hesitate to get involved with this exciting organization.

Faculty

S. Colette Daubner, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
Office: Garni 110
Phone: (210) 431-4358
sdaubner@stmarytx.edu

Full Bio Details

B.S., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Ph.D., University of Michigan

S. Colette Daubner, Ph.D., received her B.S. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she worked in the Chemistry Department and a genetics lab in the Zoology Department. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of Michigan purifying and studying the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), an important enzyme in one-carbon transfers. MTHFR was later found to play a role in cardiovascular disease, strokes, and neural tube defects. Her post-doctoral work at the Pennsylvania State University centered on the enzymes of purine de novo biosynthesis, which also utilize derivatives of folate, and are also important in fast-growing cells such as cancers and embryonic tissues.

As a research scientist in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M in College Station Daubner worked on the enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase (TyrH), phenylalanine hydroxylase, and tryptophan hydroxylase. This family of rate-limiting enzymes uses the cofactor biopterin and bound iron to hydroxylate aromatic amino acids. Her work brings together enzymological techniques, protein modification, cloning and mutagenesis of the proteins, fluorimetry and other biophysical techniques.

Hermelinda Gonzales

Administrative Secretary to the Chair
Office: Moody Life Sciences Center 307
Phone: (210) 436-3241
hgonzales@stmarytx.edu

Christine E. Gray, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
Office: Moody Life Sciences Center 304
Phone: (210) 436-4306
cgray@stmarytx.edu

Full Bio Details

B.S., DePaul University, 1986
Ph.D., Texas A&M University, 2005

Christine E. Gray, Ph.D., earned her bachelor's with majors in Biological Sciences and Secondary Education, and then taught high school courses in Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, and Topics in Laboratory Science for eleven years at two Chicago area high schools. Gray completed a Ph.D. in the Interdisciplinary Genetics program at Texas A&M University. Gray now teaches General Biology for Majors I and II and Developmental Biology, and Evolutionary Biology at St. Mary's.

Much of her research involved the identification and initial characterization of a CTCF-like protein in both Aedes aegypti (the primary vector of both yellow fever and dengue fever) and Anopheles gambiae (the principal vector of falciparum malaria). CTCF is a well-known insulator binding protein in vertebrates and its mosquito homologue may provide a useful means to increase the efficiency of the process used to make transgenic mosquitoes. Transgenic mosquitoes are made for two key reasons: to learn more about key mosquito genes involved in the natural transmission of pathogens and to potentially create mosquito strains that are unable to transmit pathogens such as viruses, filarial worms and protozoans.

Lucien C. Manchester, Ph.D.

Professor of Biological Sciences
Office: Moody Life Sciences Center 211
Phone: (210) 431-4320
lmanchester@stmarytx.edu

Full Bio Details

B.A., University of the Virgin Islands
M.A., University of Nebraska (Omaha)
Ph.D., University of Nebraska Medical School, 1983

Born on the Island of St. Kitts in the Caribbean, Lucien C. Manchester, Ph.D. attended the University of the Virgin Islands and received an associate degree and B.A. with honors in biology. He received a pre-doctoral scholarship from the U.S. Department of Public Health to study "Ciguatoxicity and Its Relationship to Colon Carcinogenesis" at the Eppley Cancer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, working under the mentorship of Drs. Phillipe, Shubik, and Melvin Greenblatt. Manchester received post-doctoral training at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas and The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas in the Department of Cellular and Structural biology.

One of his primary research focuses is to define the cellular mechanism by which pinealocytes and other melatonin producing cells synthesize and release melatonin. Other research is aimed at investigating biologic importance in photoperiodicity, antioxidantine stress and anti-aging; mechanisms of action of melatonin on the hypothalamo-hypophysical axis particularly in relationship to its anti-gonadal function; and the physical parameters by which light and magnetic fields affect pineal physiology. Awards and recognitions include:

Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1991
Marie Hall Research Fellowship U.T.M.B. Galveston, Texas, June-August, 1991
Trio Achievement Award, Upward Bound, 1992
Faculty Development Award, Fall, 1994
Certificate of Appreciation from The University of Texas School of Medicine at Houston: Nomination by entering students to the Doctor of Medicine degree program
Who's Who in Teaching, 1994 and 1995

Gary B. Ogden, Ph.D.

Professor of Biological Sciences
Office: Moody Life Sciences Center 212
Phone: (210) 431-4305
gogden@stmarytx.edu

Full Bio Details

Ph.D., University of Kansas, 1983

Gary B. Ogden earned his doctorate for his studies on the composition of Simian Virus 40 chromatin. His subsequent postdoctoral work at Tufts Medical School uncovered possible roles for DNA-adenine methylation in the segregation of the E. coli chromosome and the timing of new rounds of DNA replication. In 1987, after joining the research staff in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), he began to study molecular aspects of microbial pathogenesis, using the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi as a model. In 1989 he left the NIH to join the research faculty at Yale University's School of Medicine, where he cloned T. cruzi virulence molecules. Since joining St. Mary's in 1991, he has been able to fulfill his long-standing goal of teaching and mentoring undergraduate students, and has continued to study molecular aspects of microbial pathogenesis. Moreover, as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, he has established collaborative research efforts concerning the development of a genetic vaccine against the protozoan parasite Leishmania.

Ogden's research concerns the study of gene regulation and cell differentiation in Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania. He believes that the classical MAP kinase pathway (see figure), which links extracellular differentiation and growth signals to gene expression, is conserved across the evolutionary gap separating mammalian cells from these protozoa. His interests include the identification of parasite genes used in cell signaling and transcriptional activation. He also has ongoing collaborative studies, funded by the Veterans Administration, developing a genetic vaccine against leishmaniasis, and he is also developing molecular methods to detect and identify Leishmania sp. and trypanosomes.

Timothy Raabe, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor of Biological Sciences
Office: Moody Life Sciences Center 307
Phone: (210) 431-4321
traabe@stmarytx.edu

Full Bio Details

B.S., Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas University), 1989
M.S., Texas State University, 1991
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1995

Timothy Raabe, Ph.D., joined the laboratory of Dr. George H. DeVries at Loyola and began work on multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a disease of unknown origin which attacks the myelin (insulation) surrounding the axons of neurons in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). The loss of myelin (or demyelination) in the CNS can produce a number of symptoms such as disturbed vision or loss of coordination. The cells responsible for producing myelin in the CNS are termed oligodendrocytes. The oligodendrocytes are not mitotically active in adults so once they are destroyed in MS remyelination is not successful.

His research at Loyola involved using growth factors (molecules that influence oligodendrocyte development) to determine the feasibility of using certain growth factors as possible therapeutic agents. Raabe's work focused on a family of growth factors termed neuregulins. The neuregulins are very important for the development of not only oligodendrocytes, but also Schwann cells which are responsible for myelination in the peripheral nervous system. His research focuses on the ability of both oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells to produce their own neuregulins which may enable these cells to regulate their own survival, differentiation, or proliferation.

Veronica Contreras-Shannon, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
Office: Moody Life Sciences Center 301
Phone: (210) 431-4324
vcontrerasshann2@stmarytx.edu

Full Bio Details

B.A., University of California at Santa Cruz, 1995
Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 2003

Veronica Contreras-Shannon, Ph.D., earned her bachelor’s in Biology after which she participated in research at Los Alamos National Lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Later, she earned her doctorate from the Department of Biochemistry in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. After completing her doctoral work in 2003, she completed two postdoctoral fellowships.

While a graduate student at UTHSCSA, her research elucidated the role of three differentially compartmentalized isozymes of NADP+-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase in yeast. These studies led to an understanding that these multiple isozymes participate in the shuttle of NADPH reducing equivalents among various cellular compartments and provided strong evidence for isozyme involvement at the intersection of both carbon and nitrogen metabolism.

Her postdoctoral training addressed the molecular mechanisms associated with disease states. During Contreras-Shannon’s first fellowship, she examined how the regeneration of damaged muscle was influenced by inflammatory cells following injury. During her second fellowship, she studied the functional role of proteins encoded by genes that were found to be amplified in prostate cancer. She is trained in the Pathobiology of Occlusive Vascular Disease, Immunology, Muscle Regeneration, Genetics and Cancer Biology.

Contreras-Shannon teaches General Biology for Majors, Mechanisms of Disease, Molecular Biology and Endocrinology.

Rosemarie Wahl, Ph.D.

Professor of Biological Sciences
Office: Moody Life Sciences Center 303
Phone: (210) 431-8064
rwahl@stmarytx.edu

Full Bio Details

B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.S., University of Chicago
Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1967

Dr. Rosemarie Wahl was born in Chicago and graduated from the Girls Latin School of Chicago. She earned the B.S, degree in Quantitative Biology from MIT, the M.S. in Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Chicago. She has been on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Texas Christian University, the University of Texas at Austin, and St. Mary’s University..

Dr. Wahl served as Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, St. Mary’s University, for 25 years (1979-2004), as well as Chief Advisor for the Health Professions and Chair of the Premedical/Predental Advisory Committee. During her tenure: • Seven full-time faculty members were recruited and retained. • Thirteen new courses were added to the biology curriculum. • External funds totaling $8 million were brought to the university through faculty grant proposals. • The application process to medical and dental school was redesigned. • The departmental curriculum was tailored to three career goals: teaching and research, the health professions and industry. • Approximately 500 St. Mary’s University students were accepted to medical school and 150 to dental school. • In 1992 St. Mary’s University was second in the nation among 2,000 colleges and universities in the number of Mexican-American applicants accepted to medical schools. In 1993 the university ranked third..

Dr. Wahl pioneered in research on DNA. Her research contributions are in the molecular structure of bacterial viruses, the chemical basis of genetic mutation and the mechanism of DNA replication..

Dr. Wahl’s memberships include the American Society of Microbiology, Texas Genetics Society, Sigma Xi Honor Society, and the Texas Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (serving on the executive committee). She is presently a Vice-President of her class of MIT Alumni/ae..

Dr. Wahl has received the Distinguished Faculty Award from St. Mary’s University School of Science, Engineering and Technology. Her biography is included in the Marquis publications: Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who among American Women, Who’s Who in Education and Who’s Who in Medicine and Health Care..

Dr. Wahl currently teaches Genetics and Molecular Biology lecture/laboratory courses for science majors and Food and Nutrition I and II for non-science majors. .