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Kristin O'Brien
Research Interests:
Broadly, my research interests lie in understanding interactions between organisms and their environment. As an integrative biologist, I am interested in how processes at the cellular and molecular level drive changes at the organismal level.
Currently, research in my laboratory is focused on the thermal tolerance of Antarctic fishes and metabolic remodeling in response to temperature in the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus.
Kristin
M.
O'Brien
Professor of Biology
Office:
323E Margaret Murie Building
907-474-5311
Lab:
318 Margaret Murie Building
907-474-7230
Postal Address:
Institute of Arctic Biology
PO Box 757000
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7000
- B.S. Zoology, Duke Unversity, 1990
- Ph.D. Zoology, University of Maine, Orono, 1999
- NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Colorado, Boulder, Dept. of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, 1999 - 2004
- 2018 - present, Professor of Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
- 2010 - 2018, Associate Professor of Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
- 2004 - 2010, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
- 2004 - present, Affiliate Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Alaska Fairbanks
- 1999 - 2004, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Colorado, Boulder
2016
, 2016. Hyperoxia does not extend critical thermal maxima (CTMax) in white- or red-blooded Antarctic notothenioid fishes. Physiol. Zool., 89(1).
, 2016. Expansion of capacities for iron transport and sequestration reflects plasma volumes and heart mass among white-blooded notothenioids fishes. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 311(4).
, 2016. New Lessons from an Old Fish: What Antarctic Icefishes May Reveal about the Functions of Oxygen-Binding Proteins. Integr Comp Biol, 56(4).
2015
, 2015. Energetic costs of protein synthesis do not differ between red- and white-blooded Antarctic notothenioid fishes. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol, 187, pp.177-83.
, 2015. Cold acclimation increases levels of some heat shock protein and sirtuin isoforms in threespine stickleback. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol, 188, pp.139-47.
2014
, 2014. Moderate elevations in temperature do not increase oxidative stress in oxidative muscles of Antarctic notothenioid fishes. Polar Biology, 37, pp.311-320. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1432-3.
, 2014. Hearts of some Antarctic fishes lack mitochondrial creatine kinase. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol, 178, pp.30-6.
2013
, 2013. The promise and perils of Antactic fishes. European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) reports: Science & Society, 14.
, 2013. Molecular characterization of a mitochondrial mutant carrying point mutations in the 3′ untranslated region of the COX3 mRNA from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Animal Cells and Systems, 17, pp.80-87. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19768354.2013.782898.
2012
, 2012. Exposure to critical thermal maxima increases oxidative stress in hearts of white- but not red-blooded Antarctic notothenioid fishes. J Exp Biol, 215(Pt 20), pp.3655-64.
Pages
American Physiological Society
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
- Collaborative Research: Redox balance in Antarctic notothenioid fishes: Do ice fishes have an advantage? (2011-2014)
- Collaborative Research: Linkages Among Mitochondrial Form, Function and Thermal Tolerance of Antarctic Notothenioid Fishes (2008-2011)
- Collaborative Research: Differential Expression of Oxygen-Binding in Antarctic Fishes Affects Nitric Oxide-Mediated Pathways of Angiogenesis and Mitochondrial Biogenesis (2005-2008)
- 2018 - 2021 An energy-sensitive pathway of cold-induced metabolic remodeling in threespine stickleback. P.I., National Science Foundation
- 2017 - 2018 The effect of polyglutamine and glutamic acid repeats on HIF-1 function. P.I., Alaska INBRE Pilot Award
- 2014 - 2017 Collaborative research: The physiological and biochemical underpinnings of thermal tolerance in Antarctic notothenioid fishes. P.I., National Science Foundation
- 2011 - 2014 Collaborative research: Redox balance in Antarctic notothenioid fishes; Do icefish have an advantage? P.I., National Science Foundation
- 2008 - 2011: Collaborative research: Linkages among thermal tolerance and mitochondrial form and function in notothenioid fishes. P.I., National Science Foundation
- 2007 - 2012: CAREER: The molecular mechanisms of cold-induced mitochondrial biogenesis. National Science Foundation
- 2006 - 2007 The mitochondrion as a temperature sensor: Molecular mechanisms regulating cold-induced mitochondrial biogenesis in oxidative muscle of Gasterosteus aculeatus. AK EPSCoR
- 2005 - 2008 Collaborative research: Differential expression of oxygen-binding proteins in Antarctic fishes affects nitric oxide- mediated pathways of angiogenesis and mitochondrial biogenesis. Co-PI, National Science Foundation
- 2005 - 2007 Cellular protection against nitrosative stress. American Heart Association
- BIOL 115 Fundamentals of Biology I This course is an introduction to the principles of biology for science majors, with an emphasis on the chemistry of life, cell structure and function, molecular biology, metabolism and physiology.
- BIOL 360/ CHEM 360 Cell and Molecular Biology In this course we investigate how cells function. Topics include how cells use the information encoded in DNA to produce RNA and proteins, cell signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, photosyntheisis, protein sorting, cell division, cancer, aging, and the molecular basis of disease.
- BIOL 363/MATH 693 Synthetic Biology Students in this course will couple molecular biological techniques and computer modeling of biological systems to design and construct a novel synthetic microorganism.
Current Graduate Students (More info)
- Anna Rix
Past Graduate Students
Corey Oldham, M.S. 2016
Kelly Keenan, M.S. 2015
Laura Teigen, M.S. 2014
Irina Mueller, Ph.D. 2012
Julieanna Orczewska, M.S. 2011
Aaron Kammer, M.S. 2010
Matt Urschel, M.S. 2009
In the News
- Students build camera to capture footage of Antarctic icefish
(4 February 2017) Good Day Chicago - Fox 32 - How do you study fish in Antarctica? Ask these CPS students, who built a probe
(24 January 2017) Chicago Tribune - Fish #388
(23 September 2016) Science for the People - Handy guide details dozens of outdoor trips in Fairbanks area
(3 July 2016) Alaska Dispatch News - The last intact ecosystem on Earth
(pdf)
(25 January 2014) SitNews - Chicago Teacher and Students Build Underwater Camera Rig to Observe and Record Antarctic Fish
(pdf)
(10 July 2013) National Science Foundation - Blood may be thicker than water but it isn't always
(pdf)
(27 September 2012) UAF Aurora magazine - Kristin O’Brien: Antarctic icefishes have translucent bodies and blood
(pdf)
(20 January 2012) EarthSky.org
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