| Title: | Associate Professor |
| Dept: | Biology, Geology, Environmental Science |
| Office: | SR 253,278 |
| Phone: | 216-687-2444 |
| Fax: | 216 687 6972 |
| Email: | B.LI37@csuohio.edu |
| Address: | 2121 Euclid Ave. SR 253,278, Cleveland, OH 44115 |
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| Education: | ||||||||
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B.S., Electrical Engineering, Peking University, 1990
Ph.D., Molecular Biology, Cornell University Medical College, 1996 | ||||||||
| Brief Bio: | ||
| Dr. Li is an Assistant Professor of Biological Science. She received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Peking University in Beijing, P. R. China and her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Weill Medical College of Cornell University in NYC. Bibo Li received her postdoc training with Dr. Titia de Lange at the Rockefeller University. Subsequently, she was a research assistant professor at Dr. George Cross' lab from 2002 to 2006. She has been a faculty member of Cleveland State University since 2006. | ||
| Honors and Awards: | ||
| Internal Funding and Awards
Summer 2008 Undergraduate Summer Research Award April 2008 Faculty Merit Recognition Award for research Summer 2007 Undergraduate Summer Research Award Aug. 2006 - current Institutional start-up 2007 Recognition of excellence in obtaining external funding by Vice-Provost for Research and OSPR External Funding and Awards March, 2007 Honorable mention from OMERIS as one of the "30 in their 30's" doing great work in bioscience. Jan. 2007 - Dec. 2010 NIH grant: 1R01AI066095-01. Characterization of trypanosome telomere complex Aug. 2001 - May 2002 NIH post-doctoral training fellowship July 1998 - June 2001 Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Fellowship Sept. 1991 - Dec. 1996 Cornell University Medical College Graduate student Scholarship and Fellowship May 1995 15th Vincent du Vigneaud Symposium, First Place, Cornell University Medical College June 1990 Honor of Peking University, Outstanding Graduating Student Sept. 1989 - June 1990 First "Guang Hua" Annual National Scholarship, P. R. China Sept. 1986 - June 1990 Peking University Scholarship | ||
| Research Interests: | ||
| Telomeres are nucleo-protein complexes located at ends of linear chromosomes. Although telomeres do not contain any genes, they play a pivotal role in protection of the chromosome ends from illegitimate DNA recombination, repair and nucleolytic activities. Therefore, telomeres are essential for genome stability. In addition, most organisms use a ribonucleoprotein, telomerase, to synthesize telomere DNA de novo, which solves the end-replication problem raised by conventional DNA polymerase. In several organisms, telomeres form a heterochromatic structure that can suppress the expression of genes located at subtelomeric regions. Interestingly, in quite a few microbial pathogens, genes encoding surface antigens that are essential for pathogen virulence are located at subtelomeric regions, suggesting that telomeres play an important role in regulation of expression of these genes.
My lab is interested in studying telomere functions in Trypanosoma brucei, a protozoan parasite causes sleeping sickness in humans and Nagana in cattle in southern Africa. We have identified an essential duplex telomere DNA binding protein, tbTRF, which is critical for the telomere terminal structure. The VSG genes in T. brucei encode surface antigens that are crucial for its survival in mammalian hosts. Only one VSG gene is expressed at a time, exclusively from one of ~20 nearly identical poly-cistronic transcription units located at subtelomeric loci. Recently, we have also identified a tbTRF-interacting factor that plays an important role in regulation of subtelomeric VSG gene expression. Additional tbTRF-interacting factors have also been identified in T. brucei and their functions are currently under investigation. These studies will be helpful for understanding the pathogenesis of T. brucei and the general functions of telomeres. | ||
| Teaching Areas: | ||
| Molecular biology
Human biology Epigenetics and Cancer | ||
| Professional Affiliations: | ||
| Adjunct assistant professor in The Rockefeller University
Adjunct staff in Cleveland Clinic Learner Institute | ||
| Research Grants: | ||
| NIH R01 grant Jan. 2007 - Dec. 2010 Characterization of trypanosome telomere complex | ||