Faculty Promotions Announced by UMD College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences

The University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) has announced the promotion of 10 faculty members, effective July 1, 2015.

Those promoted to Professor:

  • Sridhar Hannenhalli, cell biology and molecular genetics, joined CMNS in 2010. His research interests include developing computational approaches to harness the huge amount of biological data to answer specific questions pertaining to gene regulation and molecular evolution. 
  • Kara Hoffman, physics, joined CMNS in 2004. Her research interests include particle astrophysics, with research projects at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole and the Askaryan Radio Array.
  • Karen Lips, biology, joined CMNS in 2009. Her research interests include the conservation and ecology of amphibians and reptiles particularly as they are affected by emerging infectious disease and global change.
  • Atif Memon, computer science, joined CMNS in 2001. His research interests include software engineering, human computer interaction, bioinformatics and computational biology.
  • Kasso Okoudjou, mathematics, joined CMNS in 2006. His research interests include pure as well as applied and computational harmonic analysis, frame theory, time-frequency and wavelet analysis, multilinear pseudodifferential operators and analysis and differential equations on fractals.
  • Johnpierre Paglione, physics, joined CMNS in 2008. His research interests include strongly correlated electron systems, synthesis and exploration of SCES materials and anisotropy in quantum materials.
  • Elizabeth Quinlan, biology, joined CMNS in 2001. Her research interests include understanding how experience differentially influences the juvenile versus adult mammalian brain, focusing on the role of experience in the regulation of the visual system.
  • Herman Sintim, chemistry and biochemistry, joined CMNS in 2006. His research interests include the chemical biology of bacterial communication, virulence factors production and biofilm formation; discovery of new antibiotics with novel modes of action and new microfluidic devices for sensing and the study of biological processes.
  • Wenxia Song, cell biology and molecular genetics, joined CMNS in 1996. Her research interests include understanding how B-lymphocyte activation is initiated and regulated and the interaction between human epithelial cells and the bacterial pathogen, Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Those promoted to Associate Professor with tenure:

  • Kan Cao, cell biology and molecular genetics, joined CMNS in 2010. Her research interests include studying molecular mechanisms of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), a premature aging disease, and exploring the potential connections between HGPS and normal aging.

Media Relations Contact: Abby Robinson, 301-405-5845, abbyr@umd.edu

Writer: Mary Kearney

University of Maryland
College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
2300 Symons Hall
College Park, MD 20742
www.cmns.umd.edu
@UMDscience

About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 7,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $150 million.

About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences

The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 8,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and six interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $250 million.