Welcome to my personal webpage!

I work in the fields of genetics and neurobiology at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).  As an Assistant Professor in UAB's Department of Neurobiology I develop and teach courses in the Undergraduate Neuroscience Program and UAB School of Medicine. As a scientist at UAB's Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute, I collaborate with researchers and physicians to identify molecular mechanisms of disease, develop patient-guided animal models, and hypothesize treatment approaches for patients with unique genetic variants associated with rare-genetic disorders.

My goals in research are to use molecular, cellular, and pharmacological approaches to better understand cellular communication, development, and neurological signaling. I aim to understand how genetic mutations, environmental variables, and chemicals can induce or disrupt cellular signaling associated with development and differentiation. In order to study these topics, I have experience working with a multitude of biological organisms including bacteria, corals, sea anemones, and zebrafish.

My passion for teaching has provided me the opportunity to teach and develop multiple courses in the biological sciences, including human anatomy & physiology, neurobiology, cellular biology, molecular biology, and genetics. Through the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) I have earned certifications and expanded my knowledge of teaching practices and pedagogy.  

​I was raised in Birmingham, AL and my education and scientific pursuits have taken me all over the United States and abroad.
News 
  • May 2022 - Sienna Rucka (undergraduate lab member) graduates with Honors and named as UAB's Most Outstanding Undergraduate by the Honors College. Sienna's research thesis was titled:                                                                    Morphological, Locomotive, and Microscopic Features of a Loss-of-function Zebrafish Model of MAPK8IP3 Genetic Disorder
  • April 2022- Selected as 2022-2023 UAB Honors College Faculty Fellow!                                                                                          Project title: You and Your Genome: Explorations into How Lifestyle Habits Impact Your Genome 
  • April 2022 - Submitted manuscript to Frontier's in Artificial Intelligence:                                                                                Foksinska, A., Crowder, C., Crouse, A., Henrikson, J., Byrd, W., Rosenblatt, G., Ramsey, S., Zheng, M., Amin, N., Osborne, J., UAB Precision Medicine Institute, Might, M. (2022). The Precision Medicine Process Using the Artificial Intelligence Tool mediKanren. Submitted to Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence (March 2022).
  • August 2021 - Accepted position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at UAB.
  • July 2021 - Preprint of new Covid manuscript uploaded to BioRxiv and submitted to Molecular Therapy!
            Water-soluble tocopherol derivatives inhibit SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase
            Pacl, H., Tipper, J., Sevalkar, R., Crouse, A., Crowder, C., UAB Precision Medicine Institute, Holder, G., Kuhlman, C., Chinta, K.,                Nadeem, S., Green, T., Petit, C., Steyn, A., Might, M., and Harrod, K. (2021) doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.13.449251
  • Oct. 2020 - Drs. Crowder, Yoder, and Might receive funding from The Wolverine Foundation to work with a team of researchers to develop MAPK8IP3 patient-guided precision animal models (C. elegans and zebrafish)!
  • Sept. 2020 - The Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute receives NIH Pilot Centers for Precision Disease Modeling Award to develop a Center for Precision Animal Modeling (CPAM)!
  • Sept. 2020 - Began teaching GGSC330 Principles in Precision Medicine as a co-instructor with researchers and physicians at The Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute.
  • Feb. 2020 - Accepted a full-time position as the Assistant Director of UAB's Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute focusing on education, research, and science communication!
  • Oct. 2019 - Joined the Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute and the Thyme Lab in The Department of Neurobiology!
  • Jan. 2019 - Began teaching STH201 Molecular Genetics Course in Undergraduate Research Experience (C.U.R.E.) and began a collaboration with Dr. Matt Might at UAB's Precision Medicine Institute (PMI) to examine rare-human genetic disorders.
  • Dec. 2018 - GGSC490 Model Systems of Genetic Disorders course wrapped up, another great semester at UAB.
  • Nov. 2018- Accepted position to teach STH201 Research Approaches: Molecular Genetics at the UAB Spring 2019!
  • Oct. 2018 - G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor manuscript published in the journal Endocrinology!