Faculty and students engage in research projects

As we look toward the start of a new academic year, it’s a great time to recognize some of the research projects Charleston Southern professors are conducting. Undergraduate students enjoy the opportunity to interact with professors in completing research projects.

Here are some of the highlights:

Ricard Bordas, assistant professor of music
Professor Bordas serves as the artistic director of the Bach Society of Charleston and of the Charleston Men’s Choir. As artistic director of the Bach Society, he researches music for choirs and instruments of Spanish and French Baroque Music in preparation for the Bach Festival of Charleston.

Dr. Aiye Liang, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Dr. Liang has multiple research projects:

• The study of biomedical application of hydrogels
• The development of biomedical and biophysical methods
• The isolation and characterization of complex sulfated polymers from animal cells
• The study of the interactions of coagulation proteins and sulfated polymers
• The investigation of folate-mediated targeting of anticancer drugs
• The interaction of target anticancer drugs with cell surface receptors

Dr. Jennifer Zakrzewski, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Dr. Zakzewski has presented at numerous conferences on the topic Student Engagement: Giving Students What They Want, Getting Educators What They Need.

Dr. Julius Mutwol, Associate Professor of Political Science
Dr. Mutwol’s research topics include:

• Herder-farmer conflicts in rural Africa
• Mediating the South Sudan civil war and implementation of peace agreements
• Peaceful versus violent transitions of power
• African Union peacekeeping in Somalia
• Radical Islamic groups: Boko Haram and Al Shabab

Dr. Imelda Tirtajaya Brooks, Assistant Professor of Biology
Dr. Brooks’s recent student research projects include:

• The prevalence of various foodborne pathogens in foods obtained from grocery stores around the Charleston area
• The effect of ferric iron (Fe-citrate) and magnesium divalent ions (magnesium sulfate) on the survival of foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes cells deficient of lipoteichoic acid (LTA) at low temperature storage, and the effect of LTA on the survival of Listeria monocytogenes in a food matrix stored in low temperature when present in low numbers

Dr. Ed Gravely, Associate Professor of Christian Studies, and Dr. Michael Bryant, Professor of Christian Studies & Vice President for Strategic Planning

Drs. Gravely and Bryant are working on a textbook for New Testament survey classes on the Gospels.