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Office Address
6112 Scott Hall
Phone
313-577-1558
Fax
313-577-5494
Position Title
Professor
Areas of Interest
Cell Physiology; GI Physiology; Neurophysiology; Reproductive Biology
Narrative Bio
Dr. Jeffrey L. Ram has diverse research interests relating to biodiversity, reproductive biology, neuroscience, invasive species, and human and environmental microbiology. He studies diverse aquatic organisms both as model systems for reproductive biology and neurobiology and as a way to understand changes taking place in Great Lakes habitats and ecology. These organisms include animals that can affect human health, such as midges and mosquitoes, predatory microinvertebrates that prey upon them, and aquatic invaders of the Great Lakes, like the zebra mussel. His invertebrate research has been recognized internationally by several international research grants, and he is the past-president of the International Society for Invertebrate Reproduction and Development. In addition, Dr. Ram led a National Science Foundation to promote science and science careers among students in the Detroit public schools. As an associate in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Dr. Ram connects technically and conceptually as well to research on the molecular detection and characterization of microorganisms in diverse habitats. These projects have included analyses not only of environmentally significant bacteria at beaches and microorganisms in the ballast water of ships, but also correlations of human oral and fecal microbiomes with disease and behavior, and most recently the detection and quantitation of COVID-19 virus in wastewater.
I will consider new student for the 2024-25 academic year.
Laboratory Web Site
Publications
A list of Dr. Ram's publications can be found at PubMed-Ram
Post Graduate Training
- 1973-77 NIH Post doctoral fellow in neurobiology and endocrinology, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Suffix
Ph.D.
Category Information
- Cellular Physiology-Patch clamping (neurons and smooth muscle cells); chemoreceptors in bacteria; bioinformatics (microbial)
- GI Physiology-Bioinformatics of gastrointestinal tract bacteria; interrelationships of GI tract bacteia and colon cancer
- Neurophysiology-Neural control of reproduction in invertebrate model organisms; patch clamping (neurons and smooth muscle cells)
- Reproductive Physiology-Neural control of reproduction in invertebrate model organisms; mechanisms regulating fertilization
Research Description
We are diverse in both scientific interests and laboratory personnel. A mural of our our group (c. 2018) is in the hallway to the right as come in the entrance to Scott Hall.