Alex Erkine laboratory
New drug discovery, gene regulation, chromatin remodeling
Currently in the lab
Tamara Erkina, Ph. D.
Research Assistant Professor
Research Assistant Professor
Ivan Dixon
Pharmacy Professional Program student
Pharmacy Professional Program student
Dwipayan Bhattacharya
Former MS student, successfully completed program in 2012 and currently is in PhD program at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, LA
Former MS student, successfully completed program in 2012 and currently is in PhD program at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, LA
Nick Powell
Pharmacy Professional Program student
Pharmacy Professional Program student
Levi Smith
Pharmacy Professional Program / MS student
Pharmacy Professional Program / MS student
To prospective research students:
As a PharmD student in the research track here at Butler University, I have spent the last 2 years participating in heat shock factor research with Dr. Erkine and others. In my P2 year, with very little knowledge about real laboratory benchwork, I approached Dr. Erkine with questions about his research projects. Two other pharmacy students and I became quickly involved in the project through informal discussions and some independent reading. The following summer we worked full time (with pay) learning and performing various laboratory methods in the field of molecular biology. From day 1 we were working on the actual research project, and our progress became fundamental to the current status of this project. We even constructed a genetically modified yeast strain (LNL4) that is named after us and will be used by the NIH for implementation of our novel growth restoration assay protocol!
Becoming a member of the heat shock factor "team" is one of the most positive learning experiences of my academic career. Initially, I did not fully appreciate how awesome of an opportunity this was, and how unique it is to find such personalized learning from multiple PhD mentors, but over the course of the last 2 years I realized how invaluable this experience was and how lucky I am to have had such a tremendous opportunity.
Pharmacy students who may be interested in expanding their scientific mind will see firsthand how therapeutic drugs are identified in the early stages of drug development. Additionally, this experience will provide a strong understanding of how subcellular processes can be objectively observed and how that contributes to our detailed knowledge of physiologic and pathophysiologic cellular mechanisms.
Sincerely,
Nick Powell (PharmD Candidate 2013)
As a PharmD student in the research track here at Butler University, I have spent the last 2 years participating in heat shock factor research with Dr. Erkine and others. In my P2 year, with very little knowledge about real laboratory benchwork, I approached Dr. Erkine with questions about his research projects. Two other pharmacy students and I became quickly involved in the project through informal discussions and some independent reading. The following summer we worked full time (with pay) learning and performing various laboratory methods in the field of molecular biology. From day 1 we were working on the actual research project, and our progress became fundamental to the current status of this project. We even constructed a genetically modified yeast strain (LNL4) that is named after us and will be used by the NIH for implementation of our novel growth restoration assay protocol!
Becoming a member of the heat shock factor "team" is one of the most positive learning experiences of my academic career. Initially, I did not fully appreciate how awesome of an opportunity this was, and how unique it is to find such personalized learning from multiple PhD mentors, but over the course of the last 2 years I realized how invaluable this experience was and how lucky I am to have had such a tremendous opportunity.
Pharmacy students who may be interested in expanding their scientific mind will see firsthand how therapeutic drugs are identified in the early stages of drug development. Additionally, this experience will provide a strong understanding of how subcellular processes can be objectively observed and how that contributes to our detailed knowledge of physiologic and pathophysiologic cellular mechanisms.
Sincerely,
Nick Powell (PharmD Candidate 2013)