News
We are delighted to share that Maya Gosztyla (Molecular Genetics and Neuroscience B.S. 2018) was recently awarded the 2026 William Oxley Thompson Alumni Award by the Ohio State University Alumni…
The department is excited to share good news about our recent (and less recent) Ph.D. graduates and the amazing things they've been doing in the last year. Look for the next batch of recognitions…
The Department is delighted to recognize Aden Tewodros as an awardee of the 2026 Thomas J. Byers Scholarship.
Aden is a Molecular Genetics major in Helen…
Congratulations to Margot Kossmann Williams, who was just awarded a new NIH grant entitled "Transcriptional networks for embryonic time keeping".
As an embryo develops, it adheres to a…
In early September, the department held our annual Fall welcome event and celebration. We especially welcomed our incoming class of graduate students, graduate students from other program who…
Congratulations to Dr. Sharon Amacher, who has been appointed to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Advisory Council. The Advisory Council includes leaders in science,…
The Department is delighted to recognize the 2026 awardee of the The Elizabeth Wagner Scholarship.
Kavya Kudalkar earned the award to complete…
Congratulations to Helen Chamberlin (PI) and Adriana Dawes (co-PI) who were recently awarded a grant entitled "Evaluating the dynamics of developmental tube morphogenesis" from the NIH.
The…
Congratulations to Shuai Huang who was featured on the ASC podcast Voices of Excellence. Take a few minutes to hear him discuss how plan cells defend themselves even without…
In 2025, Molecular Genetics Alumna Louise Rodino Klapac (Ph.D. 2005) provided a generous gift to the department to support graduate research. In August 2026, she visited campus, and we were able…
We would like to congratulate these students who successfully defended their Ph. D. during the 2025/26 academic year.
Dr. Katelyn Amstutz (Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and…
The Department is delighted to recognize the Michael Katanic as an awardee of the 2026 Thomas J. Byers Scholarship.
Michael is a Molecular Genetics major in…
Congratulations to Dr. Jian-Qiu Wu, whose grant entitled "Molecular mechanisms of cytokinesis and plasma membrane repair" was recently funded by the NIH.
Cytokinesis (the last step…
Congratulations to Patrice Hamel, whose program Students In the Life Sciences Abroad (STILSA), co-directed by…
The Department is delighted to recognize the 2026 awardee of the The Jim Hopper Memorial Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Mahir Mazumder…
We congratulate these graduate students in Molecular Genetics labs who have been awarded competitive fellowships to support their studies
Olivia Basile (Wu lab) received a…
The Department is excited to welcome Dr. Margot Kossmann Williams as a new Associate Professor!
Dr. Williams joins us from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, where she started her…
The Department of Molecular Genetics is excited to welcome Associate Professor Dr. Michael Kearse to the department. Dr. Kearse previously served as an Associate Professor in the Ohio State…
The department was recently recognized for Faculty mentoring in a video from the Office of Academic Affairs here at OSU. Dr. Sharon Amacher, recent winner of the Faculty to Faculty Mentoring award…
Our graduate students continue to earn amazing recognitions!
Rabab Abu Alhasan (Singh lab) was selected to give a student platform presentation at the CMBP/CRB annual symposium…
Congratulations to Patrice Hamel and Joy Brihm-Spann who were recently awarded funds from the Career Center of Excellence (a catalyst grant for their proposal "i-STEM Careers”) and from the Center…
Congratulations to Christin Burd who will be one of the inaugural co-Directors of the new OSU Institute on Aging. This university-wide effort unites faculty, clinicians and educators from across…
Congratulations to these graduate students in the department who were recently awarded competitive fellowships:
Frederick Meckler (BSGP student, Christin Burd lab) was…
Congratulations to Dr. Rachel Belote, Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics, who has been selected as a FY25 Melanoma Academy Scholar through the Department of War Congressionally Directed…
Did you know there’s a lush oasis at Ohio State University on 12th Avenue? The Biological Sciences Greenhouse on the roof of the 12th Avenue Garage contains hundreds of plants used for research…
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Ruben Petreaca has been promoted to the position of Professor of Molecular Genetics. Dr. Petreaca teaches extensively at the Marion campus where his…
The Department is delighted to announce that Shuai Huang has been awarded National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, among the NSF’s highest honors for early-career…
Congratulations to Hay-Oak Park,who was recently awarded one of the inaugural Pilot Grants from the OSU Aging Initiative. Her proposal, entitled "Role of the Cdc42-Septin Axis in Cellular Aging"…
In the 2025/26 academic year about 45 undergraduates completed a BS in Molecular Genetics, and we were delighted to celebrate their accomplishments on Saturday before they formally became alumni…
We had a wonderful Falkenthal colloquium with great talks from students and from our keynote speaker Dr Daniel Arango.
Awards at the end of the day included: second place early career talk…
The Department had a great night at the 2026 Ohio State University Faculty Awards!
This year we had four faculty recognized:
Amanda Bird (joint appointment in Human Sciences) and…
The department was excited to host a table at the Arts and Sciences Alumni Awards Dinner. Faculty Sharon Amacher, Susan Cole, and Guramrit Singh along with star undergraduates Carli Genova, Amanda…
"Art and Science: Learning with Plants" is a new, interdisciplinary GE theme course where students investigate plants and their relationships with humans. They learn both scientific methods …
Congratulations to Ruben Petreaca who was named the Pelotonia Scholars Program "Scientific Reviewer of the Year" at the annual Scholars Symposium. Ruben is a tireless advocate for Pelotonia, and…
On Saturday April 18, Ohio State University hosted the Ohio Science Olympiad State Tournament, where 80 teams of 6th through 12th graders who excelled in their regional competitions came to…
The Molecular Genetics club is proud to announce their new executive committee for the 2026/27 academic year!
President: Madelyn Isbel (previous secretary)
Vice President: Riya Sutaria …
Well deserved congratulations to Amanda Bird (Associate Professor in the Departments of Human Sciences and Molecular Genetics) who was awarded Ohio State's most distinguished teaching award! The…
During Spring 2026, fourth and fifth graders from four of our seven BioEYES partner schools (Barrington ES, Hamilton STEM, Lindbergh ES, and Parkmoor ES) visited OSU West Campus for a field trip to…
Congratulations to Susan Cole who just received funding from the American Heart Association. This Innovative Project Bridge funding will allow her to continue her collaboration with Venkat Gopalan…
Congratulations to Paolo Sinopoli, who recently learned he was awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Paolo is a senior in Molecular Genetics, and during his…
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Christin Burd is a 2026 recipient of the Harlan Hatcher Arts and Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award! This award recognizes a full professor who has a truly…
Well deserved congratulations to Guramrit Singh who was awarded Ohio States most distinguished teaching award! The Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching is given to only 10 faculty each year out…
Congratulations to Anita Hopper, who was just awarded this year's Honors Faculty Service Award by the Arts & Sciences Honors Committee. This award recognizes College of Arts and…
The 40th Annual Hayes Forum was held last month and the department did great things!
Caleb Gooden (Molecular Genetics Ph.D. candidate in the Ou lab) who won second place in…
Congratulations to Sharon Amacher, who was recently notified that she is one of the inaugural winners of the OSU Faculty-to-Faculty Mentorship Award! This award recognizes her…
Congratulations to Patrice Hamel, whose program Students In the Life Sciences Abroad (STILSA), co-directed by…
Congratulations to David Mackey, who was recently awarded a new grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Entitled "Linking bacterial pathogen fitness to the composition of…
Congratulations to all the MolGen undergraduates and undergraduates in MolGen labs who participated in this year's Denman forum! We would especially like to highlight:
Thaddeus Bowen …
Congratulations to Susan Cole who was recently awarded the 2026 President and Provost’s Award for Distinguished Faculty Service, during surprise visits from university leadership. This award…
Congratulations to the following students who were awarded competitive graduate fellowships for summer 2026
Olivia Basile (Wu lab) was awarded a departmental Summer Research…
Congratulations to Helen Chamberlin who was recently awarded an NMS Exploration Grant. Her proposal entitled "Evaluating oncogenic Ras activity in the nematode C. elegans" was funded by…
The Department is delighted to recognize the second 2025 awardee of the The Thomas J Byers Award
Alyssa Pennell is a Molecular Genetics major in Sharon…
Congratulations to Christin Burd, who was recently awarded a grant from the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Research Trust Catalyst program. Entitled "Repurposing precision medicine to prevent melanoma…
Patrice Hamel's lab is interested in the topic of membrane biogenesis, in particular membrane systems in chloroplasts and mitochondria that are specialized in the transduction of energy. In recent…
The Molecular Genetics club has a great lineup of events planned for Spring of 2026. All are welcome!
MolGen Club – Spring 2026 Event List January
Congratulations to Shujun Ou, who is the subject of a recent Instructor Spotlight by the ASC Office of Distance Education. In his interview, Shujun talks about his research into how DNA…
The Department is delighted to recognize the 2025 awardee of the The Jim Hopper Memorial Undergraduate Research Fellowship
The Ou lab is bound for the 2026 Maize Genetics Meeting Cologne, Germany, in late February.
Caleb Gooden was awarded a Ray Travel Award for Service and Scholarship from the OSU Council of…
The OSU Center for RNA Biology hosted the 3rd Annual Schoenberg Lecture November 9 - 10, 2025. This annual event honors Dr. Daniel Schoenberg’s two decades of leadership in promoting RNA science…
The department just made the first awards from the Rodino-Klapac gradudate fellowship fund, which supports graduate students studying in the department of Molecular Genetics. From a pool of…
The Department is delighted to recognize the first 2025 awardee of the The Thomas J Byers Award
Madelyn Isbel is a Molecular Genetics major in Adriana…
Congratulations to Anna Dobritsa who was recently elected to a five-year term on the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (NAASC). Formed in 1992 , the NAASC prioritizes initiatives and…
Congratulations to Debadrita Paul (PhD candidate in the Singh lab) who won the third place award at the annual MCDB Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. The 3MT competition challenges…
Two members of the Singh lab who were recognized at the RNA Rustbelt meeting in October
Rene Arvola received the excellent platform talk award Toby Frazer received the excellent poster…
The Department is delighted to recognize the 2025 awardee of the The Elizabeth Wagner Scholarship.
Carli Genova earned the award to complete research in…
On Saturday, October 25th, almost 60 campus groups and community partners gathered on OSU west campus to provide family-friendly hands-on STEM activities for the Columbus community as…
Congratulations to Dr. Ambro van Hoof who is co-PI with Dr. Agnes Karasik (Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry) on a recently funded seed grant from the Center for RNA biology…
Congratulations to Dr. Davinder Singh (Postdoctoral fellow in the Wu lab) who was recently awarded a Pelotonia Postdoctoral Fellowship
The department is excited to share good news about our recent (and less recent) Ph.D. graduates and the amazing things they've been doing in the last year. See other recent updates here and also…
Congratulations to Oliver Marchus (Ph. D. candidate in the Hollick lab) who was just named to a Spring Fellowship funded by the Nancy Byrd Johnson and Howard M. Johnson Fund. As outlined by the…
Congratulations to David Mackey who is a co-investigator on a new grant from the NSF entitled "Developing an intracellular protein delivery system for in planta protein-protein interaction studies…
Congratulations to Patrice Hamel who was named a faculty fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences. He will work with Career Success and Academic Enrichment to create relationships with foreign…
The department is excited to share good news about our recent (and less recent) Ph.D. graduates and the amazing things they've been doing in the last year. Look for additional postings in the next…
It is with great sadness that we share the news that Dr. Desh Pal Singh Verma (Professor Emeritus of Molecular Genetics) died in his home on October 10th, 2025.
Dr. Verma earned a master's…
Congratulations to Dr. Geremy Lerma (Postdoctoral Fellow in the Amacher lab) who won the Best Postdoc Presentation for his talk entitled “Validation of Duchenne muscular dystrophy candidate…
On August 22nd the department “retreated” to Hagerty Hall and the Ohio Union for our first all-department retreat centering the research activities of our amazing faculty, staff, and students…
The department is excited to share good news about our recent (and less recent) Ph.D. graduates and the amazing things they've been doing in the last year. Look for additional postings in the next…
Please join us in congratulating the students who earned their Ph.D. in the Department during the 2024/25 academic year:
Caleb Embree (Singh lab) Molecular Genetics
…
Congratulations to Sharon Amacher whose MIRA grant entitled "Developmental regulation of oscillatory expression" was recently funded by the NIH.
The MIRA award funds Amacher lab research on…
As the academic year begins, we want to welcome three new faculty to the department.
Dr. Ambro van Hoof joins us as Professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar. Prior to joining the…
Anita Hopper was recognized by the Ohio State University Board of Trustees for her appointment as Distinguished University Professor at the August Board Meeting.
In his introduction,…
Congratulations to Ruben Petreaca, who was recently awarded a new grant from the National Cancer Institute at the NIH entitled "TIP60-chromatin remodeling complex roles in chromosome break repair"…
Congratulations to Christin Burd who recently received an award from the JobsOhio Early Stage Technology Fund. Entitled "Topical pan-RAF inhibition for melanoma prevention" the funding will…
The International Zebrafish Society (IZFS), recently announced the 2025 George Streisinger Award Winners: the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) Course Directors. This award recognizes senior…
Congratulations to Davis Snodgrass (Molecular Genetics' Greenhouse Coordinator) who recently earned a Framework Grant from the Integrated Physical Planning Liaison Group. These grants provide…
Congratulations to the following students who were awarded new competitive graduate fellowships starting in Summer or Autumn of 2025:
Debadrita Paul (Singh lab) was awarded a…
Congratulations to a number of members of the department who have recently earned accolades at local and international meetings:
At the 2025 RNA Society Meeting Paolo Sinopoli …
We had a wonderful Falkenthal colloquium with great talks from students and from our keynote speaker Pamela Wenzel.
Awards at the end of the day included: first place talk in the third year…
On Saturday April 26th, Ohio State University hosted the Ohio Science Olympiad State Tournament, where 80 teams of 6th through 12th graders who excelled in their regional competitions came to…
Molecular Genetics joined many OSU and Columbus area groups that participated in the COSI Big Science Celebration on Saturday, May 3rd. We provided hands-on activities for the general public at…
Four students from The Ohio State University have been recognized by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program in 2025, and astonishingly three of them have…
Congratulations to Rachel Belote who was awarded the 2024 Medrano Young Investigator Award, PanAmerican Society of Pigment Cell Research (PASPCR). This award recognizes an early-career scientist…
At their end-of-year gathering, the Career Success Office honored Dr. Patrice Hamel as the ASC Center for Career and Professional Success Faculty Champion of the Year. This was awarded in…
On Friday evening, April 11th, the Molecular Genetics department hosted “Game Night”, open to everyone. Undergrads, grad students, postdocs, staff, and faculty attended for an evening of fun and…
Congratulations to Jaime Sabel (Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Life Science Education) who was featured on the ASC podcast Voices of Excellence. Take a few minutes to hear her…
Congratulations to Amanda Simcox, Emeritus Professor whose grant entitled "Linking systemic and local signaling for proportional growth" was recently funded by the NIH. This project will use the…
Congratulations to Ruben Petreaca and Renee Bouley who recently were awarded an honors undergraduate research grant entitled “Identification of Mutations that Drive Cancer” from the College of…
Congratulations to Helen Chamberlin who recently was awarded an honors undergraduate research grant entitled “Broadening Participation and Retention of Biological Science Majors Through a Faculty…
The department hosted José R. Dinneny, Professor of Biology, Stanford University for the Waller lecture series March 19th-20th. Dr. Dinneny presented a scientific lecture entitled "The…
Congratulations to Dr. Anita Hopper who was named a Distinguished University Professor in a surprise announcement on March 18. The award was announced by Helen Malone, Vice Provost for Academic…
Congratulations to Anna Lubertozzi (Ph. D. candidate, Plageman lab) who has recently earned several accolades at the intersection of art and science!
Her confocal image entitled "The…
Congratulations to Clare Austin (Ph.D. candidate, Amacher lab) wh was recently awarded the Graduate Student Award for Distinguished Service from the College of Arts and Sciences! This award honors…
The Dept. of Molecular Genetics, partnering with @ASCareersuccess, is offering paid sustainability internships w/ companies in Norway and Brazil! Undergrad (degree seeking or graduated) & graduate…
Erin Murray recently spent a month with a research team in Norway studying the impacts of noise from a nearby offshore windfarm upon key species of the local aquatic food chain. By exposing…
Congratulations to the Hopper lab whose recent paper "Free introns of tRNAs as complementarity-dependent regulators of gene expression" was highlighted by Ohio State News. This outstanding paper,…
Congratulations to Amanda Bird who is a co-investigator on a recently awarded President's Research Excellence Accelerator Award entitled "Novel role for iron homeostasis in air pollution…
Congratulations to Anna Dobritsa who was recently awarded an NMS Exploration Grant. Her proposal entitled "Exploring protein interactions involved in pollen aperture formation in Arabidopsis…
Molecular Genetics, with generous support from the College of Arts and Sciences hosted an all-day Graduate Student Professional Development Workshop on Friday, December 13, 2024…