Gail Baughman

Faculty member in Biological Sciences, MiraCosta College, since 1996

BA Biology, Cornell University
MS Biochemistry, Pennsylvania State University
PhD Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin

Having grown up on the East Coast, I attended my home town college (Cornell University in Ithaca NY) for my undergraduate education. There, as a general biology major specializing in microbiology and biochemistry, I became fascinated with the inner workings of cells and continued on to graduate school at Penn State University in the field of biochemistry. My research studies focused on the isolation of a new gene that determined drug resistance in E. coli and resulted in the publication of my first article ("Chloroamphenicol resistance mutation in Escherichia coli which maps in the ribosomal protein gene cluster").

After two years at Penn State I obtained my Master's of Science degree and moved to the University of Wisconsin, Madison to continue my studies in the field of ribosome genetics under the direction of Dr. Masayasu Nomura. For the next six years I was immersed in research, becoming proficient in the new and rapidly advancing techniques of molecular biology and being a part of a world-renowned laboratory.

In 1984, with more publications under my belt and a PhD after my name, I found myself heading west to San Diego. For the next 12 years I utilized my research training and technical skills as a postdoctoral fellow in plant virology at the University of California, San Diego, and then as a staff scientist in biomedical (cancer) research at The Salk Institute in the laboratory of Dr. Suzanne Bourgeois.

Which brings me to where I am today. When the opening for a faculty member in biology/biotechnology at MiraCosta College became available in 1996, I jumped at the opportunity to teach students and have been providing instruction in general biology and biotechnology (technical skill development) ever since.

(For a more detailed curriculum vitae)

(For a list of publications)