Dr. Tamra Mendelson

Dr. Achuth Padmanabhan was born and raised in India. After completing his bachelor’s in engineering (Biotechnology) he came to the United States in 2005 to pursue his PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). At UMBC, he worked with Dr. Charles Bieberich to discover pathways that regulate the levels of certain key oncogenes and tumor suppressor proteins in prostate cancer cells. In 2012 he moved to Yale University to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Mark Hochstrasser. At Yale Dr. Padmanabhan’s work focused on understanding how proteins are targeted for degradation in eukaryotic cells. In 2016 he re-located to Baylor College of Medicine at Houston, TX to work with Dr. JoAnne Richards on mechanisms that regulates the stabilization of mutant forms of a tumor suppressor protein called p53 in ovarian cancer cells. Dr. Padmanabhan began his independent career in 2019 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in the Department of Biological Sciences. At UMBC, his laboratory uses a multi-disciplinary approach to understand factors that promotes ovarian cancer progression and metastasis. Dr. Padmanabhan’s research is supported by multiple grants from the Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and several other private foundations. He was selected as the Skacel Family Scholar at the Rivkin Foundation in 2020 and received the prestigious Ovarian Cancer Academy Award for Early Career Investigators from the Department of Defense in 2023. 

Dr. Daniel Lobo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Member of the Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine. Dr. Lobo received his Ph.D. from the University of Malaga in Spain before completing his postdoctoral training at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Dr. Lobo’s lab in Systems Biology aims to understand, control, and design the dynamic regulatory mechanisms governing biological growth and form. To this end, his group combines molecular methods with computational approaches towards the reverse-engineering of mechanistic models from biological data and the automatic design of regulatory networks for specific functions. They seek to discover the mechanisms of development and regeneration, find therapies for cancer and other diseases, and streamline the application of systems and synthetic biology. Dr. Lobo has received several awards for his research, including the NIH Outstanding Investigator Award and the PhRMA Foundation Research Starter Award. His work on Systems Biology has attracted widespread media coverage including PBS, Wired, TechRadar, and Popular Mechanics.

Dr. Eileen Meyer is an observational astrophysicist and associate professor of physics. As a highly multiwavelength observer, she studies super-massive black holes in almost every wavelength of light, from radio waves to the highest-energy gamma rays. She is interested in how `active’ black holes produce relativistic jets that recycle energy from the smallest to the largest scales (from solar-system sized to millions of light years). More recently, she has begun a program to build low-cost but high-performance polarimetry instruments for use with the UMBC observatory, with science goals ranging from finding life in our solar system to understanding particle acceleration near distant black holes.

Rebecca Kirvan is a dedicated educator with a passion for mathematics and a track record of excellence in teaching.

After earning her  Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from George Mason University, Rebecca studied teaching at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, earning a Master of Arts in Teaching. Rebecca has continually demonstrated her commitment to professional growth and excellence. 

Throughout her career, Rebecca has held various roles, including Adjunct Mathematics Instructor at UMBC and AACC, University Supervisor at UMBC, and Mathematics Department Chair at Old Mill High School. In these positions, she has showcased her ability to lead, manage classrooms effectively, and provide ongoing support to students and fellow educators alike.

Rebecca's contributions extend beyond the classroom, as evidenced by her involvement in curriculum development, professional development sessions, and publications. She has co-authored articles with Dr. Rakes from UMBC such as "Flipping an Algebra Classroom: Analyzing, Modeling, and Solving Systems of Linear Equations" and "Discovering Radical Simplification Through Geometry Connections," showcasing her dedication to innovative teaching methods and pedagogical research.

Sarah Leupen is a Principal Lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences. She teaches physiology and related courses, conducts research on teaching, and gives teaching workshops, especially about Team-Based-Learning, in which she is a certified trainer-consultant. For the 2016-2017 academic year she was a Fulbright Scholar at the Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Czech Republic. She is the recipient of the Carl Weber Excellence in Teaching Award at UMBC in 2014 and the University System of Maryland Regents Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2019. She loves reading, traveling, nature, opera, her family, and dogs.

Dr. Smith earned his B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from SUNY College at Brockport in 1988, his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993, and spent two years in the Department of Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. He joined the faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UMBC in 1995. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses, primarily in organic chemistry. He has mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students in his research laboratory, which continues to work in the area of bioorganic chemistry; current efforts in the lab focus on the design and synthesis of small molecules as potential anti-bacterial and anti-viral agents. He has served in leadership roles in the American Chemical Society at both the local and national level, and currently serves as Associate Chair for Chemistry and Biochemistry and Undergraduate Program Director for Chemistry.