Faculty Profile

Molly D. Scheel

Assistant Professor of Biology

B.S. University of Notre Dame , 1994; Ph.D. University of Chicago, 1999.

Appointed: 2002

Expertise Area: genetics of nervous system development

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Current Courses:

Biology 210: Cell and Molecular Biology

Biology 317: Genetics

Biology 324: Developmental Biology

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Research Interests: Dr. Scheel is a developmental biologist who studies various aspects of nervous system development in invertebrates.  Her recent research in Drosophila melanogaster has focused on regulation of the cell cycle during nervous system development. She has discovered interactions between a number of developmental patterning genes and genes that regulate the cell cycle. Interestingly, some of the same genes that she found to regulate the cell cycle during development can, when mutated, lead to a variety of human cancers.  Dr. Scheel has also studied various aspects of cell determination and axon guidance in Drosophila.  She applies what is known about nervous system development in Drosophila, a well characterized model organism for the study of developmental genetics, to the study of development in non-model organisms, including a variety of crustaceans.  She uses both classical and molecular approaches in her research and employs a variety of techniques, including: microscopy, DNA manipulation and cloning, in situ hybridization, protein expression, and immunohistochemistry.   

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