Tag Archives: welcome

Welcoming the New Class – 7 Habits of Successful Students

It's in the Syllabus

It’s in the Syllabus

Welcome to the new freshman class and transfer students. Here are a few suggestions to make your college career successful. My list is not based on surveys or other scientific methods. Rather, I’ve noticed that students who are successful at University develop some or all of the following habits. 

7 Habits of Successful Students:

1. Don’t Panic – The faculty and staff can help you solve your problems.

2. Pay Close Attention to:

  • Syllabus – Many of the answers are posted in many places and in many ways.
  • Course Calendar – a quick way to see when assignments are due.
  • Announcements made in class and posted on the course page.
  • Exam Schedule – Be prepared and on time. Don’t wait until the day before the exam to study the course materials.

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Evolutionary Biology in the Clark Lab

237741730Welcome to the Clark Lab website. We study protein evolution using caspases as a model system. Caspases are integral proteases in cell development and in programmed cell death (apoptosis). The dysregulation of apoptosis is observed in a number of human diseases, from autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes), to neurodegenerative diseases, to cancer.

About 2.5 million deaths are registered in the US each year (www.cdc.gov). Heart disease and cancer account for about half of the deaths. The impact of chronic diseases (heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer) on healthcare costs approaches $750 billion per year. Anticancer drugs are effective at inducing apoptosis by a variety of mechanisms because cancer cells are known to evade pro-apoptotic signals when compared to normal cells. Our goal is to understand how unique characteristics of caspase enzymes evolved to provide discrete cellular functions and how the enzymes are regulated under normal versus aberrant cellular conditions. Specific projects are described on the Research page.

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