Assistant Professor of Biology
Areas of Expertise: Genetics, neuroscience, Drosophila research, neurodevelopmental genetics
The overarching goal of my research is to examine genetic influences on nervous system development and function. In particular, I am interested in understanding how genetic diseases can disrupt appropriate developmental pathways and thereby alter normal nervous system function.
I take an interdisciplinary approach to these questions, using behavioral, molecular, and genetic techniques to address nervous system form and function. By examining the genetic system of Drosophila melanogaster, otherwise known as the fruit fly, I manipulate the nervous system during development and into adult life to learn more about how changes occur.
Through my research, I hope to develop a deeper understanding of nervous system perturbations caused by diseases so we can potentially identify ways to eliminate or mitigate the effects of genetic diseases affecting humans.
Publications:
Andrew, D.R., R.R. Fitak, A. Munguia-Vega, A. Racolta, V.G. Martinson, and K. Dontsova. 2012. Abiotic factors shape microbial diversity in Sonoran Desert soils. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 78(21): 7527–7537. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01459-12.
Andrew, D.R., S. Brown, N.J. Strausfeld. 2012. The minute brain of the copepod Tigriopus californicus supports a complex ancestral ground pattern of the tetraconate cerebral nervous system. Journal of Comparative Neurology. 520: 3446–3470.
Strausfeld, N.J., and D.R. Andrew. 2011. A new view of insect-crustacean relationships I. Inferences from neural cladistics and comparative neuroanatomy. Arthropod Structure and Development. 40: 276–288.
Andrew, D.R. 2011. A new view of insect-crustacean relationships II. Inferences from expressed sequence tags and
comparisons with neural cladistics. Arthropod Structure and Development. 40: 289–302.
Sztarker, J., N. Strausfeld, D.R. Andrew, and D. Tomsic. 2009. Neural Organization of First Optic Neuropils in the Littoral Crab Hemigrapsus oregonensis and the Semiterrestrial Species Chasmagnathus granulatus. The Journal of Comparative Neurology. 513: 129–150.
White, B.J., D.R. Andrew, N.Z. Mans, O.A. Ohajuruka and M.C. Garvin. 2006. West Nile Virus in Mosquitoes of Northern Ohio. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 75: 346–349.
Scheidler, L.C., M.M. Dunphy-Daly, B.J. White, D.R. Andrew, N.Z. Mans, and M.C. Garvin. 2006. Survey of Aedes triseriatus (Diptera: Culicidae) for Lacrosse encephalitis virus and West Nile virus in Lorain County, Ohio. Journal of Medical Entomology. 43: 589–593.
Andrew, D.R. 2014. Bug Brains: Invertebrate Nervous Systems for Outreach. Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) Newsletter. V2.1 (link).