I serve as the Director of the Protein Structure, Analysis, & Design (PSAD) Core and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics in the Carver College of Medicine. I earned a BA from Central College and my PhD from the University of Iowa, and have spent my career learning and utilizing various biophysical and structural methods to help advance structural biology projects at the University of Iowa. I have substantial experience in developing approaches for studying diverse protein based interactions using many biophysical techniques and also structural techniques like cryoEM and X-ray crystallography. I developed a robust cryoEM infrastructure at Iowa over the last 6 years, which has steadily grown our user base. This led to an NIH S10 award for a Glacios CryoTEM microscope in April 2025 which is scheduled to be installed in January 2026. I have authored or co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications and have been the depositor or a contributor to at least 25 PDB entries using both cryoEM and X-ray crystallography.

Theresa Zucchero Scocca, PhD, RAC, is a Senior Research Scientist at Rho, Inc., a global, family-owned contract research organization specializing in clinical development, biostatistics, and regulatory affairs and strategy. During her over 14 years in the industry, Dr. Scocca has managed and contributed to various integrated product development programs spanning from the preclinical through marketing application stages. Her management, protocol design, and regulatory authorship experience spans drug, biologic, medical device, and combination products and a broad range of therapeutic areas, including CNS, infectious disease, gastrointestinal diseases, osteoarthritis, analgesia, asthma, dental products, ADHD, inner ear disorders, and ophthalmology. She currently
serves as a scientific lead and regulatory advisor primarily in Rho’s Federal Research Operations sector, supporting clinical programs for NIH and BARDA, with particular focus on vaccine development, autoimmune diseases, and allergy/asthma. She received her PhD from Iowa’s Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics in 2005.

Dr. Mark Garbrecht is a Professor of Biology at Winona State University in Winona, MN. As a faculty member at Winona State, Dr. Garbrecht teaches a variety of undergraduate courses in human anatomy, physiology, and endocrinology. His research lab focuses on the biology and metabolism of natural and synthetic glucocorticoids, as well as the impact of maternal diet on the fetal programming of adult-onset diseases. Dr. Garbrecht earned his B.S. in Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, completed a Ph.D. in Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Iowa, and trained as a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.  

I currently serve as the course director for General Microbiology lecture and laboratory. Additionally, I hold the role of Co-Director for our department's National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Microbiology at the Host-Pathogen Interface.

My graduate studies at Iowa State University focused on investigating the influence of environmental stimuli on host-microbe interactions. Specifically, I explored the impact of varying quantities and qualities of light on the ability of the bacterial plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae to colonize and infect host plants. My research revealed that specific wavelengths of light can be perceived by the photosensory proteins of P. syringae, thereby modulating bacterial movement through a histidine kinase-mediated signal transduction pathway. Motility, a crucial bacterial behavior for accessing and infiltrating portals on the plant surface, highlights the significance of light as an environmental cue for the pathogenicity of P. syringae.

During my graduate studies, I served as a teaching assistant for Introductory Microbiology, an experience that ignited my passion for teaching undergraduates. Following the completion of my PhD, I pursued teaching-focused roles at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs). From 2015 to 2022, I served as an assistant and later associate professor of biological sciences at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU). At SWOSU, I taught a range of courses, including general education biology for majors and non-majors, non-majors microbiology, and introductory and upper-level microbiology courses for majors. I also mentored undergraduates in independent research projects covering various microbiology topics, such as the influence of motility- and biofilm-associated factors on bacterial pathogenicity, the mechanisms of biosurfactant-mediated microbial antagonism, and the surveying of components of the water cycle for bacterial plant pathogens.

In my teaching approach, I strive to incorporate innovative instructional techniques to engage students in the fascinating world of microbiology. For instance, students enrolled in the General Microbiology laboratory at the University of Iowa actively participate in authentic microbiome research as part of the NSF-funded Bean Beetle Microbiome Project. This course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) allows students to select their own experimental treatments, investigating bacterial diversity using both culture- and sequence-based approaches.

During lectures, I employ student response tools and case studies to enhance class participation, and social annotation tools to facilitate discussions of challenging concepts. As an avid reader, I enjoy incorporating excerpts from popular science books into my courses to complement traditional materials. Recognizing the vastness of microbiology as a field, my overarching goal as an educator is to instill in students an appreciation for the myriad of ways in which microbes profoundly impact our world.