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New Faculty in the Eberly College of Science

Mitchell Holland, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology

Mitchell Holland is responsible for the Forensic Biology track of the new Forensic Science major. Holland teaches basic and advanced forensic biochemistry and molecular biology, crime scene investigation, evidence collection, and scene reconstruction.  His research interests include the assessment of population diversity of mitochondrial-DNA (mtDNA) profiles and the mechanism of mtDNA segregation in human hair. He previously led the efforts of two prominent forensic-DNA laboratories: the Armed Forces DNA-Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) in Rockville, Maryland, and The Bode Technology Group in Springfield, Virginia.

Holland is best known for his pioneering work to develop DNA-based methodologies for human identification. At AFDIL, he developed mitochondrial-DNA (mtDNA) methods that have been used for the past fifteen years to assist in the identification of U.S. military personnel. The most famous of these cases was the identification of the Vietnam Unknown Soldier, 1st Lieutenant Michael Blassie, in 1998. Prior to that, Holland’s laboratory had used mtDNA analysis to help identify the remains of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas Romanov, and to refute the identification of Anna Anderson Manahan as the long-lost biological daughter of the Romanov family, Anastasia. Laboratories around the world have adopted the methods developed by Holland and his colleagues at AFDIL.

Holland’s laboratory at Bode completed the analysis of more than 15,000 forensic cases and 300,000 convicted-offender databanking samples. He is noted for his development of new methodologies and approaches to assist in the identification of victims from the attacks on the World Trade Center, in support of the efforts of the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. These included novel DNA-extraction approaches that were capable of processing more than 200 skeletal samples per day. As a result, while prior methods allowed for the analysis of approximately 100-200 samples per week, the new methods could analyze more than 800 samples in the same time frame. Given the magnitude of the World Trade Center victim-identification project, this level of throughput was vital to the success of the project. Holland also has been involved in the identification of victims from a number of other disasters and airline crashes; including US Airways Flight 427 outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, TWA Flight 800 in Long Island, New York, and Alaska Airlines Flight 261 off the coast of Los Angeles, California.

Holland now applies his previous experience to courses he teaches for Penn State's new forensic-science major. His students are exposed to cutting-edge technologies and techniques to develop forensic-DNA profiles from a wide variety of biological sample types. Holland teaches his students how the principles of biochemistry and molecular biology relate to the field of forensic-DNA science, and provides the students with hands-on training in the analysis of forensic-type samples (bloodstains, hairs, mock sexual-assault swabs, and even cells recovered from the surface of a soda can). This level of hands-on preparation will benefit students hoping to start a career in the field of forensic DNA.

Holland is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. He was honored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1998 for helping them develop mitochondrial-DNA-analysis techniques for forensic-casework, samples such as hair shafts. Holland has published 36 scientific papers and book chapters about his work and research. He has been on the editorial board of the Journal of Forensic Sciences since 2000 and was a member of the editorial advisory board of the International Journal of Legal Medicine from 1996 to 2000. He has given more than 100 invited presentations on forensic-DNA analysis and has been qualified in courts of law as an expert in forensic-DNA analysis. In 2005, he established a consulting firm, Forensic DNA Consultants, to support the law-enforcement and crime-laboratory communities. He recently was invited by the National Center for Forensic Science (NCFS) to participate on two focus groups supported by the National Institutes of Justice (NIJ), one titled "Identifying the Missing" and the other titled "Mass Fatality Incident Management."

Holland was a lecturer in the Department of Forensic Science at George Washington University from 1993 to 2000, and was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland from 1994 to 1999 and at Marshal University from 1997 to 1999. He received his bachelor's degree in chemistry, with a minor in philosophy, from Hobart College in 1984 and received his doctoral degree in biochemistry from the University of Maryland in 1989. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1990.

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Edward C. Holmes, professor of biology

Edward C. Holmes studies the evolutionary biology of viruses by integrating techniques from molecular evolution, virology, bioinformatics, and the ecology of infectious disease. He is particularly interested in the evolutionary genetics of RNA viruses, the evolution of emerging viruses, and the origins of viruses. Holmes’ work on the evolutionary genetics of RNA viruses explores the central mechanisms by which RNA viruses evolve. He focuses on the computational analysis of viral-gene sequences to answer such questions as what factors shape the evolution of mutation and recombination rates in RNA viruses and the factors that influence the adaptability of RNA viruses.

Holmes is especially interested in the processes that allow viruses to jump species boundaries and spread in new hosts. In studying the evolution of these emerging viruses, a key question is how much of the process depends on the viruses adapting to new hosts, and how much depends on the chance exposure of hosts to new pathogens. Holmes uses a variety of model systems to address this question, including dengue virus, influenza virus, parvoviruses, and lyssaviruses such as those that cause rabies.

In 2003, Holmes’ research accomplishments were recognized by the Zoological Society of London with a Scientific Medal for Achievement in Research awarded to a zoologist under the age of 40. He has presented invited talks about his research in Brazil, Germany, Israel, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Holmes is a member of the American Society for Microbiology. He has published more than 150 scientific papers about his research as well as several book chapters, popular science articles, and book reviews. In 1998 he coauthored a book titled Molecular Evolution: A Phylogenetic Approach, which was published by Blackwell Science Ltd. in the United Kingdom. He currently is editor of the Public Library of Science (PLoS) publication Computational Biology, and has been associate editor of Molecular Biology & Evolution since 2000. He also is an honorary editor of Evolutionary Bioinformatics. He was a member of the editorial boards for the Journal of General Virology from 1997 to 2002 and for the Journal of Evolutionary Biology from 1995 to 2000. He has served as reviewer for numerous scientific journals.

Prior to joining Penn State in 2005, Holmes was a University Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Oxford and a Tutorial Fellow in Biological Science at New College in Oxford, both in the United Kingdom, from 1999 to 2004. He was a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the University of Oxford from 1994 to 2002 and an elected Fellow at Saint Catherine’s College in Oxford from 1994 to 1998. He was a Wellcome Trust Fellow in Biodiversity Research from 1994 to 1997 and a postdoctoral researcher in zoology from 1993 to 1994, both at the University of Oxford. He conducted postdoctoral research in the Institute of Cell, Animal, and Population Biology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, from 1991 to 1993, and in the Department of Genetics at the University of California at Davis from 1990 to 1991.

Holmes received his bachelor’s degree in anthropology with first-class honors from the University of London, United Kingdom, in 1986. He received his doctoral degree in zoology from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, in 1990.

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Randen Patterson, assistant professor of biology

Randen Patterson, assistant professor of biology, uses novel imaging techniques along with advanced molecular-biological, genetic, and bioinformatical approaches to determine the proteins that are involved in the activation, maintenance, and deactivation of calcium signals in neurological systems. “Activation of receptors for G-proteins and tyrosine-kinase releases stored calcium, as well as stimulating calcium entry into cells through the plasma membrane,” says Patterson. He focuses on processes mediated by the inositol-triphosphate (IP3) receptor and transient-receptor-potential channel (TRPC). He is particularly interested in understanding the protein complex that exists between these two developmental proteins and how the proteins are regulated by one another, or by other proteins in the complex.

Patterson's lab also is refining a bioinformatical algorithm known as the gestalt-domain-detection algorithm (GDDA), which he developed in collaboration with Damian van Rossum while working as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University. This algorithm can identify functional areas within proteins that have highly divergent sequences. Patterson is using this algorithm to investigate the molecular evolution of protein domains, especially lipid-binding structures.

Patterson is a member of the Society for Neuroscience. His research accomplishments were recognized with a 2006 Searle Scholar award for young investigators.

Prior to joining Penn State in July 2004, Patterson was a postdoctoral fellow conducting research in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University from 2000 to 2004 in the lab of Presidential Medal of Honor in Science winner, Solomon Snyder. He was a research assistant at Johns Hopkins University from 1997 to 1999. At Youngstown State University, he was an instructor from 1995 to 1996 and a chemistry tutor for veterans from 1993 to 1996. He was a research assistant at the Naval Research Laboratories in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, from 1993 to 1995. Patterson received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Edinboro State University in 1994, a master’s degree in chemistry from Youngstown State University in 1997, and a doctoral degree in biochemistry from the University of Maryland in 2000.

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Stephan Schuster, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology

Stephan Schuster studies bacteria that are closely related to pathogens that cause diseases in humans or other mammals, making them effective models for studying common diseases. He seeks to identify the underlying determinants of the physiology of microbial organisms and of their physical characteristics. He analyzes the gene content and dynamics of the genomes of closely related bacteria in order to understand the factors that influence their genomic structure. He uses comparative- analysis techniques to identify species-specific genes that enable an organism’s particular lifestyle. Using a combination of genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data, he identifies molecular components that interact with one another, giving rise to a complete cellular system.

In 2000, a team led by Schuster established a high-throughput sequencing facility at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany. At that facility, he automated sample preparation and sequencing in order to process as many as 1500 samples daily, running up to 24-hours per day. Using liquid-handling technology and the latest generation of DNA sequencers, his team was able to set up the entire processing pipeline in a 384-well format—as opposed to a standard 96-well format—allowing for higher sample through-put at lower cost. A supercomputer system was set up to process data for the assembly and annotation of complete bacterial genomes, and for the comparison of multiple genomes.

In 2005, taking high-through-put sequencing to the next level, Schuster and his colleague John Carlson, director of the Schatz Center for Tree Molecular Genetics in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, established a bead-based sequencing facility at Penn State. This quantum leap in sequencing technology allows for a 60-fold increase in through-put over commonly used technology, while at the same time reducing the cost significantly. This bead-based sequencing approach is effective for whole-genome projects because it allows for fast resequencing of complete genomes in order to trace the small changes in an organism's genetic makeup that give rise to observable phenotypes.

Schuster has conducted several bacterial-genome projects. A sequencing unit in his lab carries out DNA-sequencing, DNA-library construction, and DNA-template purification. A bioinformatics unit performs tasks such as genome assembly and annotation, as well as genome comparisons.

Schuster is a member of Penn State's Center for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics and Center of Infectious Disease Dynamics. He has published 36 scientific papers about his research. His research accomplishments have been recognized with an Otto Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society in 1992. He held a postdoctoral fellowship from the German Research Foundation from 1991 to 1992 and a Max Planck Society Fellowship from 1992 to 1994. He was a member of the national and international boards of the German Dictyostelium Genome Project from 1999 to 2005. He was a panelist on the National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Agriculture Interagency Microbial Genome Sequencing Program in 2004. In 2005, he served as editor of the Genomics section for the journal Current Opinion in Microbiology.

Prior to joining Penn State, Schuster was a lecturer at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, in 2002. He was a researcher and group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology at Tübingen, Germany, from 2000 to 2005 and at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany, from 1994 to 2000. He conducted postdoctoral research in biology at the California Institute of Technology from 1991 to 1994 and was a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry from 1990 to 1991. He received diploma degrees in chemistry from the Technical University of Munich, Germany, in 1982 and from the University of Konstanz, also in Germany, in 1987. He earned his doctoral degree at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in 1990.

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Robert C. Shaler, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and director of forensic science

Robert C. Shaler joins Penn State as director of a new intercollege collaboration in forensics. The undergraduate major in forensic science is based on the idea that science and education serve the needs of the justice system. Shaler says, "In a continually shrinking, high-tech world, our courts increasingly rely on science to answer its most difficult and pressing questions. They demand superb scientists whose qualities embody the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and professionalism. Penn State faculty members have structured a rigorous program to meet that need."

In 1977, Shaler conducted a study on the individualization of bloodstain evidence that led to the development of a bloodstain-analysis system that was used as the standard in forensic laboratories until the early 1990's.

Shaler worked as a criminalist at the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Crime Lab from 1970 to 1975 and was a research director there in 1974 and 1975. He was director of forensic science at the Aerospace Corporation in Washington, DC, in 1977 and 1978. He joined the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in New York City in 1978, where he served as director of serology until 1986. From 1987 to 1989, he was director of Forensic-Science Technical Support, Training, and Business Development at Lifecodes Corporation in New York—the nation's first forensic-DNA laboratory. From 1990 to 2005, he was director of the Department of Forensic Biology at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in New York City, where he performed or directed forensic biological analyses for all homicide investigations until 2005. In the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, he implemented a DNA-testing strategy that was key to the identification of 1,592 of the 2,749 people who perished there.

Prior to joining Penn State in 2005, Shaler was an adjunct associate professor of pathology and forensic medicine at the New York University School of Medicine from 1978 to 2005 and an adjunct professor and adjunct associate professor at the City University of New York from 1993 to 1995. He has held several positions at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was an instructor of forensic chemistry and a research assistant professor of chemistry from 1974 to 1977, a clinical assistant professor from 1973 to 1975, and an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry in the School of Pharmacy from 1970 to 1973. He also had been a research associate in the School of Medicine from 1968 to 1970.

Shaler earned an associate’s degree at Valley Forge Military Junior College in 1962 and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Franklin and Marshal College in 1964. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees in biochemistry at Penn State in 1966 and 1968, respectively. In 2003, he received an honorary doctoral degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Shaler is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the New York Academy of Science, the Northeast Association of Forensic Scientists, and the New Jersey Society for Forensic Scientists.

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Matthew D. Whim, assistant professor of biology

Matthew D. Whim studies the regulation of neuropeptide secretion. The majority of neurons, and many neuroendocrine cells, synthesize two types of transmitters—fast-acting classical neurotransmitters, such as glutamate, which are found in small vesicles; and slower-acting neuropeptides, which are contained within large dense-core granules. “Name virtually any physiological process—such as sleeping, eating, reproduction, memory—and the chances are good that the process will be regulated by neuropeptides,” says Whim. “By understanding how neuropeptide secretion is controlled at a cellular and molecular level we hope to shed some light on how these transmitter molecules are able to regulate higher-order behaviors.”

Whim is particularly interested in the observation that neurons can independently control the release of neuropeptides and classical transmitters. To determine how such differential control is accomplished, he uses a technique that he developed, called “FMRFamide-tagging,” to measure the secretion of neuropeptide Y, the most common vertebrate neuropeptide. This combined molecular and electrophysiological approach bypasses the slow, second-messenger-mediated effect of neuropeptide Y and converts it into a fast, synaptic-membrane current.

Whim hopes that this technique will allow him to answer questions about how molecules control the fusion of neuropeptide-containing dense-core granules with the presynaptic membrane, and how dense-core granules and clear vesicles are moved within the cell.

Whim is a member of the Society for Neuroscience. He has published 16 scientific papers about his research and has been a reviewer for Neuron, the Journal of Neurophysiology, the American Physiological Society, the Journal of Experimental Biology, the Journal of Neuroscience, and Gene.

Prior to joining Penn State in the fall semester of 2002, Whim was a Charlotte and Yule Bogue visiting research fellow in the Department of Neurosurgery at Yale University in 2001. He was a senior research fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at University College in London, United Kingdom, from 1998 to 2002. He was a visiting scholar in molecular and cell biology at the University of California at Berkeley in 1997 and 1998, and a research associate in pharmacology at Yale University from 1993 to 1998. He was a postdoctoral fellow in neurobiology, pharmacology, and physiology at the University of Chicago from 1988 to 1993.

Whim received his bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, in 1984 and received his doctoral degree in neuroscience from the University of Cambridge, also in the United Kingdom, in 1988.

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