James Bedard, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Biology

Dr. Bedard

Education

  • 2002 University of Manitoba, Canada, Ph.D.
  • 1997 University of Manitoba, Canada, B.S.

Postdoctoral Fellowships

  • 2005 - 2008 Division of Molecular Cardiovascular Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
  • 2002 - 2005 Department of Genome Science, Genome Research Institute, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Courses Taught

  • Introductory Biology
  • Microbiology for Non-Majors
  • MCAT Review
  • Cellular Biology
  • Cellular Biology and Genetics Laboratory
  • Molecular Biology II
  • Developmental Biology
  • Immunology
  • Thesis II

Academic Advising

  • Cellular and Molecular Biology
  • Genomics
  • Pre-Medicine
  • Pre-Physician's Assistant
  • Pre-Optometry

Selected Awards and Honors

  • U.S. Department of Agriculture E. Kika De La Garza Fellowship, Education Fellow, 2011
  • AS&F Senate Excellence in Research and Publications Award, 2011
  • ASC Presidential Teaching Award Finalist, 2010
  • American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2007-2008

Professional Organizations and Memberships

  • Genetics Society of America
  • Genomics Education Partnership
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Tri-Beta National Biological Honor Society
  • National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions

Research Interests

  • My research interests include diverse topics in the area of genomics and computational biology. Currently these include:
  • 1) Genomics Education Partnership
  • The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) is a collaborative project designed to allow undergraduate students to participate in genomics research. My students are currently performing gene annotation and DNA sequence finishing in several species of Drosophila, including D. virilis, D. mojavensis and D. grimshawi. The scientific problem being investigated is how to distinguish between heterochromatic and euchromatic domains based on DNA sequence organization and comparative genomics. We’ll be able to compare our results with data generated from the other Drosophila species. We also want to look for potential regulatory elements, in particular noting similarities among the 5- upstream regions of dot chromosome genes, based on the hypothesis that genes that function within a heterochromatic environment might exhibit special characteristics. The data generated will tell the GEP more about the relationship between DNA sequence organization, chromatin packaging, and gene regulation. Further information about the GEP may be found at GEP homepage
  • 2) Analysis of the distribution and diversity of the 5S ribosomal RNA genes in stramenopiles
  • I previously examined the 5S rRNA (multi)-gene family organization among most species belonging to Pythium, Phytophthora, and Halophtophthora, members of the living Kingdom Stramenopila, to assess the evolutionary stability of the 5S rRNA gene sequence and arrangement patterns and to determine which pattern is likely the ancestral state in these genera. The evolutionary stability of 5S sequence organization was then compared with the stability of morphological characters as interpreted from a phylogeny, based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analysis. Features of 5S sequence organization were found to be just as consistent within groups as were the morphological characters. I plan to extend this research by utilizing genome-wide searches, through data-mining, to analyze the genome structure patterns of the 5S rRNA multi-gene families between different species within the stramenopiles. The primary goal of this research would be to elucidate putative evolutionary shared translocation patterns of the 5S gene within the genome architecture. This study will provide greater evidence of the universality/diversity observed between 5S gene arrangements in animals, plants, stramenoplies, fungi, and protists.
  • 3) Determination of the structure-function properties of ZIC3 isoforms with respect to cardiovascular development and disease
  • ZIC3 is a transcription factor protein that is critical for proper heart and body development. Mutations within nuclear localization signal (NLS) domains of the Zic3 gene sequence result in improper cellular trafficking of the protein. I have discovered that multiple isoforms of ZIC3 gene exist and are expressed in embryonic and adult tissues. Projects extending from this research would involve in silico analyses of 1) additional putative NLS domains in ZIC3 and related transcription factor proteins, and 2) in depth characterization of human ZIC3 mutations using molecular modeling tools.

Selected Publications

  • Bedard, J.E.J., Haaning, A.M and Ware, S.M. 2011. Identification of a novel ZIC3 isoform and mutation screening in congenital heart disease patients. PLoS ONE 6(8): e23755. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023755.
  • Bedard, J.E.J., Wang, S. and Ware, S.M. 2009. Structure-function analyses of the ZIC family of zinc finger transcription factors. Focus on Zinc Finger Protein Research. Ed. Kenichi Yoshida. Research Signpost. ISBN 978-81-308-0320-3.
  • Bedard, J.E.J., Purnell, J.D. and Ware, S.M. 2007. Nuclear import and export signals are essential for proper cellular trafficking and function of ZIC3. Human Molecular Genetics. 16:187-98. Epub 2006 Dec 21.
  • Bedard, J.E.J., Schurko, A., de Cock A.W.A.M., and Klassen, G.R. 2006. Diversity and evolution of 5S rRNA gene family organization in Pythium. Mycological Research, 110:86-95. Epub 2005 Nov 2.
  • Seta K.A., Yuan Y., Spicer Z., Lu G., Bedard, J., Ferguson T.K., Pathrose P., Cole-Strauss A., Kaufhold A., and Millhorn D.E. 2004. The role of calcium in hypoxia-induced signal transduction and gene expression. Cell Calcium, 36(3-4):331-40.
  • Schurko, A.M., Mendoza, L., de Cock, A.W.A.M., Bedard, J.E.J., and Klassen, G.R. 2004. Development of a species-specific probe for Pythium insidiosum and the diagnosis of pythiosis. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 42:2411-2418.

Selected Abstracts

  • Harlan, A.L.*, Machone, J.F.* and Bedard, J.E.J. Gene annotation of 90 kb genomic DNA sequence of Drosophila mojavensis dot chromosome. 52nd Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA. March, 2011. *undergraduate students
  • Shaffer, C., Leung, W., Bedard, J., Bhalla, S., Burg, M., Chandrasekaran, V., Coyle-Thompson, C., DiAngelo, J., Jones, C, Kadlec, L., McNeil, G., Nagengast, A., Paetkau, D, Saville, K., Stamm, J., Wawersik, M., Zhou, L., Elgin, S.C.R. Exploring genome organization and chromatin structure in Drosophila, a distributed undergraduate research project. 52nd Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA. March, 2011.

Grants and Contracts

  • U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Army High Performance Computing Research Center (AHPCRC) Research and Infrastructure Development Program. PIs: Bedard, Iklé, Loveland, Sellman, Travers. 2010-2011.
Zapata Falls