Biochemistry

Roger Miesfeld is a professor and department head in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Miesfeld’s research focus for the past 30 years has been on regulatory mechanisms governing signal transduction in eukaryotic cells. For much of this time, his lab investigated steroid hormone signaling in human disease models, primarily cancer (leukemia and prostate cancer) and asthma. More recently, his research group has been studying metabolic regulation of blood meal metabolism in vector mosquitoes that transmit the dengue and Zika viruses (Aedes aegypti). Their current efforts are aimed at identifying mosquito-selective and bio-safe small-molecule inhibitors of processes regulating mosquito eggshell synthesis. Dr. Miesfeld has taught a variety of undergraduate, graduate, and medical school biochemistry courses over the years and now teaches the largest undergraduate biochemistry courses at the University of Arizona. He has authored two other textbooks, Applied Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry: A Short Course, and was the recipient of the University of Arizona Honors College Faculty Excellence Award. Dr. Miesfeld received his BS and MS degrees in cell biology from San Diego State University, and his PhD in biochemistry from Stony Brook University. He was a Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, in San Francisco, before becoming a faculty member at the University of Arizona in 1987. Megan McEvoy is broadly trained as a protein biochemist and structural biologist, and her research work is primarily concerned with how metal ions are handled in microbial systems. She is interested in the general area of how metal ions are acquired when needed or eliminated when in excess. Her work focuses on studies of protein–protein interactions and conformational changes and how metal ions are specifically recognized by proteins. Dr. McEvoy has taught numerous undergraduate biochemistry courses, including courses for majors, nonmajors, and honors students. Along with Dr. Miesfeld, she taught the nonmajors biochemistry courses at the University of Arizona for many years. Dr. McEvoy received her BS degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and her PhD in chemistry from the University of Oregon. She started her career at the University of Arizona as an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, then became an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She is now a professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles.