José Quintáns M.D., Ph.D
José Quintáns, the William Rainey Harper Professor in the College and the Department of Pathology, serves as Master of the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division since 1995. A native of Santiago de Compostela, Spain and an immunologist by training, he joined the UC faculty in 1976. He is also the Program Director of the HHMI Education Grant and for the past 14 years has been Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program in the Pritzker School of Medicine. He teaches courses on Immunobiology and "Why Microbes Know So Much Cell Biology." As BSCD Master he has developed The Curriculome, a perfect mixture of comprehensive curricular offerings ranging from field sciences to computational neuroscience, research in faculty laboratories and the BSLC Bioculture which includes the Student Phoenix Bio Club, post-doc journal clubs, and the Chicago Biological Investigator Journal, and has adapted the BSCD anthem, "It's a Long Way to Amphioxus"
Office: BSLC 300. Phone: (773) 702-7964. Email: qui4@uchicago.edu
Faculty
Chris Andrews coordinates labs for courses in evolution, ecology, and biodiversity. She teaches two courses in the pre-med sequence for non-majors and a fall lecture course in evolutionary adaptation. She is also a Senior Adviser in the BSCD.
Navneet Bhasin; Lecturer
Navneet Bhasin encourages personalized education by incorporating topical research and presentations by students in areas of their interest. An expression of this is seen in the glowing bacteria art gallery on the BSCD website. She directs labs for the advanced AP5, Biology concentration courses - Molecular Biology of the Cell (20234) and Biological Systems (20235). She also teaches Common Core Biology and “Biotechnology for the 21st century” for students who are not concentrating in Biology. She has a Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology and an extensive research experience with pathogenic bacteria from Harvard and Boston University Medical Schools.
Office: BSLC 208. Phone: (773) 834-4699. E-mail: nbhasin@uchicago.edu
Tom Christianson; Senior Lecturer
Tom Christianson teaches Common Core Biology courses for students who are not concentrating in biology. He also teaches Experimental Physiology of Bacteria, a microbiology lab course. In the summer he teaches Research in Biological Sciences (RIBS), a four week intensive laboratory research course for high school students.
Office: BSLC 222A. Phone: (773) 834-4345. Email: tchristi@uchicago.edu
Beatrice Fineschi; Lecturer
Beatrice Fineschi is trained in molecular biology, immunology and virology. She teaches Common Core Biology to students who are not concentrating in biology.
Office: BSLC 208. Phone: (773) 834-4699. Email: bfinesch@uchicago.edu
Esmael Haddadian; Lecturer
Esmael Haddadian has a Ph.D. in Biophysics. He is developing and teaching a two-quarter sequence in Mathematical Modeling for Pre-Med students and a sequence in Multiscale Modeling of Biological Systems for none-biology majors. His research background is in Computational Biology with interests in modeling the dynamics of macromolecules, X-ray crystallographic refinement, and computational biophysics.Office: BSLC 222. Phone (773)702-7923. Email:haddadian@uchicago.edu
Alison Hunter; Lecturer
Alison Hunter teaches Common Core Biology courses for students who are not concentrating in biology.
Office: BSLC 351. Phone: (773) 834-3386. Email: ahunter@uchicago.edu
Dmitry Kondrashov; Senior Lecturer
Dmitry Kondrashov has a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics with a minor in Biochemistry. He is developing and teaching a three-quarter sequence in Mathematical Methods for Biological Sciences (BIOS 26210-11-12). His research interests include modeling the structural dynamics of protein molecules, and he has collaborated extensively with X-ray crystallographers, computational biophysicists, and mathematicians. For more details, see his home page.
Office: BSLC 208. Phone: (773) 834-3387.
Elizabeth W. Kovar: Lecturer
Elizabeth Kovar has a Ph.D. in chemistry. She is involved in infusing quantitative approaches into the biological curriculum. Elizabeth’s research background is in computational biology with interests in mathematical modeling of whole-cell systems, specifically metabolic and genetic considerations, and the cytoskeleton, involving motility and neuronal functioning.
Office: BSLC 409. Phone: 773.834.2758. Email: ewkovar@uchicago.edu
Eric Larsen; Senior Lecturer
Eric Larsen is an ecologist who teaches Mammalian Ecology (BIOS 23254) and Ecology & Evolution in the Southwest (BIOS 23233) in the spring for students who are concentrating in biology. This latter course includes a 2-wk field trip through the deserts of the Southwest with field research conducted in the Sonoran Desert. He also teaches Common Core Biology and Topics for students who are not concentrating in biology.
Office: BSLC 334. Phone: (773) 702-1215. Email: eclarsen@uchicago.edu.
Megan McNulty; Senior Advisor
Megan McNulty is the Senior Advisor to the students of the BSLC. She is also a lecturer for the Core Biology sequence, and teaches "Workings of the Human Brain: From Brain to Behavior".
Office: 306. Phone: (773) 834-7744. Email:mmcnulty@uchicago.edu
Mark Osadjan; Lecturer
Mark Osadjan earned a B.S. in neuroscience and a Ph.D. in molecular physiology from the University of Illinois. His academic interests include adaptation to stressful environments, comparative physiology and neuroscience lab courses of the College, as well as teaching a number of topical courses. He misses his previous home of Boulder, Colorado desperately and is always willing to talk about snow boarding.
Office: BSLC 306. Phone: (773) 702-25759. Email: osadjan@uchicago.edu
Iglika Pavlova; Lecturer
Iglika Pavlova takes a multidisciplinary approach to teaching and emphasizes in the course “Microbes and Infectious Disease” the interrelationship between the fields of molecular biology, evolution, and ecology. She is also developing tools for teaching scientific reasoning, and has created two courses, “Critical Thinking in Biology and Life” and “Learning about Reasoning from the Evolutionary Debate”, that focus on creating an explicit reasoning framework.
Office: BSLC 208. Phone: (773) 702-0683. Email: iglikap@uchicago.edu
Chris Schonbaum; Senior Lecturer
Chris Schonbaum directs labs for the biology concentration courses in cellular and molecular biology (20181, 20191), genetics (20192), and developmental biology (20183, 20193). In addition, in the summer, he runs the Research in Biological Sciences (RIBS) course, a four-week laboratory research workshop for high school students.
Office: BSLC 215. Phone: (773) 702-2514. Email: cps3@uchicago.edu
Paul J. Strieleman; Senior Lecturer
Paul Strieleman is a nutritional biochemist who teaches Introduction to Biochemistry and develops and teaches the laboratories in biochemistry and genetics. In addition, he is a contact person for undergraduate biology students interested in summer research opportunities.
Office: BSLC 338. Phone: (773) 702-5076 Email: pstriele@uchicago.edu
Rosemary Zaragoza; Lecturer
Rosemary Zaragoza teaches Pharmacology Perspectives, which covers molecular, cellular and organ basics in biology and incorporate how drugs work at the molecular, cellular and organ levels in treatment of disease.
Office: BSLC 211. Phone: (773) 702-2018. Email: zaragoza@uchicago.edu
Administrative Staff
Kila Roberts
Kila Roberts is the administrative assistant to the Master of the Biological Science Collegiate Division. She coordinates and manages the administrative, financial, educational, and research activities for the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division.
Office: BSLC 328. Phone: (773) 702-7962. Email: kcole@uchicago.edu
Kirsten Cole
Kirsten Cole provides clerical support to the Master of the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division, along with performing a variety of secretarial duties and other functions of the BSCD. Office: BSLC 301A. Phone: (773) 702-7963. Email: kcole@uchicago.edu
Marcia Gilliland-Roberts; Lab Manager
Marcia Gilliland-Roberts handles purchasing and course budgets, coordinates equipment use and maintenance, and oversees compliance with safety regulations. She also assists with special programs for students, including poster sessions and conferences, and conducts building tours for visitors.
Office: BSLC 336. Phone: (773) 702-1930. Email: mroberts@yoda.bsd.uchicago.edu
Anthony Chacon
AC is the Technology Manager for the BSCD. He manages the BSCD computing facilities as well as provides computer support for the BSCD faculty and staff. He works closely with Dr. Quintans to provide cutting edge technologies to the classroom.
Office: BSLC 310. Phone: (773) 702-4937. Email: chacon@uchicago.edu
BSLC Staff
Don Churilla; Building Manager
Don Churilla Manages the BSLC building operations unit, which includes all building functions: dock and deliveries, mail, security, house keeping, room reservations, audio-visual, lost and found, and repairs and renovations.
Office: BSLC 118. Phone: (773) 702-2978. Email: dwchuril@bsd.uchicago.edu
Luis Burgos
Luis Burgos is the HARDEST WORKING EMPLOYEE in the Biological Sciences Learning Center.
Office: BSLC 120. Phone: (773) 702-0713. Email: lburgos@delphi.bsd.uchicago.edu