Nicole Bournias-Vardiabasis
Contact
Education
Ph.D. Developmental Genetics, University of Essex, UK
B.S. Biology, UCI
Courses/Teaching
Genetics (Biol 3300)
Developmental Biology (Biol 4400)
Animal Tissue Culture (Biol 5130)
Regulatory Affairs ( Biol 5160)
Human Embryonic Stem Cell Culture Methods (Biol 5170)
Specialization
Professional Appointments
1987-Present
Professor
Department of Biology
California State University, San Bernardino
2004-2006
Director, MS Program in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
California State University, Channel Islands
1981-1987
Research Scientist
City of Hope Medical Center
Research and Teaching Interests
Current Research
I am by education and training a developmental geneticist. I have been very much interested in identifying how early development is governed by the interplay of genes and the environment. My organism of choice has always been Drosophila melanogaster.
Currently we are employing a Drosophila model of Alzheimer’s Disease to investigate the interactions between aging and Alzheimer’s and how dietary interventions might ameliorate the disease phenotype.
Development of a Drosophila model to identify consequences of traumatic brain injuries confounded by expression of Aβ-42 expression.
The use of hsp70 and hsp22 transgenic Drosophila model expression to identify toxicants.
Areas of Previous Research
Genetic and developmental analysis of tumorous head, a third chromosome homeotic mutant of Drosophila melanogaster. Development of an EMS screen for the third chromosome which produced a tumorous head allele.
Development of an in vitro assay to identify teratogens utilizing Drosophila embryonic cells.
Neuronal and muscle development during Drosophila embryogenesis.
Use of amniotic fluid and chorionic villi cells to assess environmentally induced heat shock proteins in the fetus.
Induction of heat shock proteins and their role in abnormal development.
Assessing effect of Electro-magnetic fields (EMF) on Drosophila embryonic development. Investigating the possible connection between telomerase activity and programmed cell death after exposure to EMF.
Utilization of P-mediated transformed Drosophila to investigate promoter control and expression of heat shock proteins.
Identification of possible relationship between altered programmed cell death pattern in embryos, heat shock protein induction after teratogen-exposure.
Identifying and establishing ovarian and malpighian tubule derived stem cells so that they can be utilized to identify trophic factors and cell cell interactions that drive determination and differentiation.
Development of a high throughput Drosophila assay to identify and rank toxicity of organophosphates