Keynote Speaker

Alexis Nagengasta

Dr. Alexis A. Nagengast

Media Expertise:

My teaching philosophy centers on encouraging students to ask questions. Curiosity is the essence of science. I try to create an “open classroom,” a comfortable and engaging environment that promotes class participation and hands-on learning. I believe that a dynamic and open interaction between teacher and students facilitates the best method of learning.
Including students in lectures encourages them to frequently ask questions. I also incorporate case studies and real-world applications of the material into all levels of my teaching.

Using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, I involve many undergraduate students in my research on how alternative splicing affects lipid metabolism in an effort to better understand gene regulation mechanisms related to obesity. I am also interested in the effect of diet and supplements on lifespan and fitness in both male and female fruit flies. Additionally, I collaborate on a project to identify regulatory genes involved in sexual dimorphism in the jumping stick Stiphra sp.

Transportin-serine/arginine-rich (Tnpo-SR) proteins are necessary for proper lipid storage in the Drosophila fat body. Nagle C, Bhogal JK, Nagengast AA, DiAngelo JR. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2022 Jan 26;596:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2022.01.087.
The SR proteins SF2 and RBP1 regulate triglyceride storage in the fat body of Drosophila. Bennick RA, Nagengast AA, DiAngelo JR. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2019 Aug 27;516(3):928-933. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2019.06.151. Epub 2019 Jul 2.
The splicing factor transformer2 (tra2) functions in the Drosophila fat body to regulate lipid storage. Mikoluk C, Nagengast AA, DiAngelo JR. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2018 Jan 1;495(1):1528-1533. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.12.002. Epub 2017 Dec 5.
Drosophila Muller F elements maintain a distinct set of genomic properties over 40 million years of evolution. Leung, W., Morris, R.W., Nagengast, A.A., Azarewicz, J., Carr, T.J., Chichearo, N., Colgan, M., Donegan, M., Gardner, B., Kolba, N., Krumm, J.L., Lytle, S., MacMillian, L., Miller, M., Montgomery, A., Moretti, A., Offenbacker, B., Polen, M., Toth, J., Woytanowski, J., & Elgin, S.C.R., et al. (2015). G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, 5(5), 719–740.
Summer research program on a shoestring budget: Increasing participation in undergraduate research. Krumm, J.L., Nagengast, A.A., Moretti, A., Colgan, M., Fisher, K.E., Hy, K.L., Castellante, R.M., & Poslusny, M. PURM, 2014 3(2), 1–10.