{"id":36724,"date":"2024-09-30T12:15:34","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T16:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/?p=36724"},"modified":"2024-10-09T10:25:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T14:25:47","slug":"fall-2024-investigator-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/fall-2024-investigator-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall 2024 Investigator Spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

RI-INBRE Investigator Spotlight <\/strong><\/h1>\n

Pioneering Neurodevelopmental Research and STEM Education: Dr. Belinda Barbagallo\u2019s Impact at Salve Regina University (SRU)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Understanding the barriers to brain development and how they lead to neurodevelopmental disorders is the focus of Dr. Belinda Barbagallo\u2019s research at Salve Regina University.  \u201cApproximately 8.5% of children and adolescents in the US have some sort of neurodevelopmental disorder and these rates are projected to rise.  These disorders are thought to arise from multiple factors including environmental exposure, genetics, early childhood experiences, nutrition and many more\u201d Dr. Barbagallo says.  Her laboratory uses Drosophila and C. elegans models to study the impact of genetic mutations and environmental factors on neuronal structure and development.\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr. Barbagallo is currently an associate professor and Chair of the Department of Biology and Biomedical Science at SRU.  After seven years at the university, she has developed a robust research program with numerous collaborators.  \u201c[I] collaborate with Dr. Niall Howlett to investigate the newly discovered neurological aspects of Fanconi Anemia. We have a series of Fanconi mutant worms that we use to assess neuronal function, numbers, and morphology as a first step towards determining the molecular basis of Fanconi Anemia Neurological Syndrome (FANS).\u201d  She also studies the environmental effects of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) on neurological development.  PFOS is a \u201cforever chemical\u201d that has been detected in 98% of human serum samples.  \u201cMy lab is using the C, elegans model system to evaluate the impact of maternal PFOS exposure on structural and functional development of key neuronal classes. This work is an offshoot of work done with my ECD mentor Dr. John Clark, who is interested in PFOS and metabolic disorders.\u201d  Dr. Barbagallo also collaborates with numerous neuroscience faculty across Rhode Island, many of whom she met through the RI-INBRE program.  These collaborations have led to multiple outreach projects and an upcoming book.<\/p>\n

In her first year at SRU, Dr. Barbagallo received an Early Career Development award from RI-INBRE.   \u201cThis award allowed me to get my research lab up and running right away. I was able to fund research students my first summer at Salve. This funding allowed me to publish a paper with my mentor, Dr. Clark, and apply for additional funding. This research project supported my successful tenure application in 2023\u201d she explains.  The award also allowed her to train multiple students who have gone on to graduate and medical school across the country.  She also took advantage of RI-INBRE\u2019s teaching postdoc program to train Renalison Ferias-Pereira for two years.  Dr. Ferias-Peneira taught the laboratory sections of Dr. Barbagallo\u2019s cell biology course and is currently an assistant professor in biological sciences at Keen University.<\/p>\n

Recently, Dr. Barbagallo was awarded a $1 million grant through the National Science Foundation titles \u201cSupporting STEM Scholars to Engage in the Blue Economy\u201d.  This is SRU\u2019s first NSF grant and their second federal grant.  \u201cThis grant will allow us to establish a scholarship program for low-income students majoring in STEM fields,\u201d she says.  \u201cThe program will provide significant financial assistance for students, including help with tuition, room & board, books, computers\u2026 [and] will provide students with scaffolded training and support to ensure that they finish their degrees.\u201d These supports include a mentor network to help develop academic and research skills, soft skills workshops to introduce students to the culture and practices of academia, and research skill development through one-on-one interactions with upperclassmen and research faculty. \u201cThe major goal of this project is to provide the wide array of supports necessary to help low-income students complete a STEM degree and move on to either graduate programs or jobs in STEM.\u201d   The program provides 16 nearly full-ride scholarships to low-income students.  Dr. Barbagallo\u2019s team includes other SRU researchers involved with RI-INBRE including Dr. Khadine Higgins (co-investigator) and Drs. Gabriella Papale and Edward Dougherty (mentors).  Dr. Barbagallo sees enormous potential for the program.  \u201c[It] benefits RI by training a workforce for the growing blue economy and STEM sectors in the state. We are working with a diverse group of community partners across RI to provide our students the training they will need to thrive in the local economy\u2026 or in graduate work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RI-INBRE Investigator Spotlight Pioneering Neurodevelopmental Research and STEM Education: Dr. Belinda Barbagallo\u2019s Impact at Salve Regina University (SRU) Understanding the barriers to brain development and how they lead to neurodevelopmental disorders is the focus of Dr. Belinda Barbagallo\u2019s research at Salve Regina University.  \u201cApproximately 8.5% of children and adolescents in the US have some sort […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4647,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[653],"class_list":["post-36724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-rwu"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4647"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36724"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36852,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36724\/revisions\/36852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}