Department of Biology

College of Arts and Sciences

Ashwini S. Kucknoor

Kucknoor portrait

Associate Professor of Biology

Office: 205-16 Hayes Biology Building

Phone: 409-880-7383

Email: ashwini.kucknoor@lamar.edu

Curriculum vitae

 

Education:

  • 2002 Ph.D. Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
  • 1996 M.S. Plant Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India
  • 1994 B.S. Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India

Courses Taught:

  • Microbiology (BIOL 2420)
  • Immunology (BIOL 4405/5405)
  • Molecular Biology (BIOL 4404/5404)

Research Interests: 

I am interested in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of parasitic protozoan species; Trichomonas vaginalis (human pathogen), Tritrichomonas vaginalis (cattle pathogen) and a tropical vector borne pathogen Leishmania amazonenesis (human pathogen). The main focus is on host-parasite interaction and signaling. Current projects include

  • Gene expression analyses of Rhomboid proteins
  • Differential expression of parasite surface proteins
  • Host cell gene expression
  • Collaborative projects on development of antimicrobials (for fresh produce, water treatment and textile coating)
  • Honors Microbiology projects on antimicrobial resistance

Recent Publications:

Sharma J, Zhang X, Sarker T, Yan X, Washburn L, Qu H,. Guo Z, Kucknoor AS and Wei S. 2014. Biocompatible Electrospun Tactic Poly(methyl methacrylate) Blend Fibers. Polymer, 55(15), 3261–3269. 

Sadu RB, Chen DH, Kucknoor AS, Guo Z and Gomes AJ. 2014. Silver Doped -TiO2/Polyurethane Nano-Composites for Antibacterial Textile Coating. BioNanoScience, 4(2), 136-148.

Atabey E, Wei S, Zhang X, Gu H, Yan X, Huang Y, Shao L, He Q, Zhu J, Sun L, Kucknoor A S, Wang A, and Guo Z. 2013. Fluorescent Electrospun Polyvinyl Alcohol/CdSe@ZnS Nanocomposite Fibers. 2013. Journal of Composite Materials, 47(25), 3175-3185.

Farrell PJ, Kucknoor AS, Iatrou K, and Gedamu L. 2013.  A simple technique to enhance the humoral immune response to intracellular protein antigens in genetic immunizations.  J Immunol Methods. 2013 Jan 31;387(1-2):308-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jim.2012.08.017. PMID: 22964556

AS Kucknoor. 2013. Use of MasteringMicrobiology Online Resources to Implement “Learn Before Lecture” Strategy: A Comparative Analysis of Student Learning. ASMCUE. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education.May 2013,143-164.

Chen M, Qu H, Zhu J, Luo Z, Khasanov A, Kucknoor A S, Haldolaarachchige N, Young DP, Wei S, and  Guo Z. 2012. Magnetic Electrospun Fluorescent Polyvinylpyrrolidone Nanocomposite Fibers. Polymer, 53(20), 4501-451.