Organizing Committee

Beth Beason-Abmayr earned her PhD in Physiology & Biophysics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is a Teaching Professor of BioSciences and a Faculty Fellow of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Rice University. A founding advisor of the Rice iGEM team, she has been judging iGEM since 2011 and has served on the iGEM Executive Judging Committee since 2014. She is a member of the Rice BioSciences Leadership Team for The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Transformations Project. She teaches undergraduate labs and an animal physiology course. She received a George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching in 2017 and the Teaching Award for Excellence in Inquiry-Based Learning in 2019. A National Academies Education Mentor in the Life Sciences since 2012, she is a member of the APS Teaching Section Steering Committee and an Associate Editor for Advances in Physiology Education.

Thomas A Pressley, PhD, is a soon-to-be-retired Professor in the Department of Medical Education at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. After earning his undergraduate degree at the Johns Hopkins University, he entered the graduate program in biochemistry at the Medical University of South Carolina. His postdoctoral training was in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. He was recruited by the University of Texas Medical School in Houston in 1987, and he transferred to Texas Tech in 1995. Dr. Pressley has served as an interim dean, a visiting professor at multiple institutions, a member of grant review committees, and the chair of the Education and Career Opportunities in Physiology Committees of the American Physiological Society. He has also developed numerous courses, and he has reviewed degree programs at several institutions. For the 2020 ITL, he has been working primarily behind the scenes with organization and logistics.

Barb Goodman received her PhD in Physiology from the University of Minnesota and is currently a Professor in the Basic Biomedical Sciences Division of the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota. Her research focuses on improving student learning through evidence-based teaching.

Lisa Carney Anderson is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology and serves as the Director of Education in IBP. She earned her PhD in Physiology from the University of Minnesota in 1993. She started her career as a basic scientist studying the process of excitation contraction coupling in mammalian skeletal muscle.

Dr. Anderson’s experience as an educator in both basic science and professional programs led her to the scholarship of teaching and learning. Her interests are in the teaching critical thinking through reflective writing and improving student learning outcomes with retrieval practice.

Dr. Josef Brandauer is an Associate Professor of Health Sciences at Gettysburg College. He completed his Ph.D. in Kinesiology (Exercise Physiology) at the University of Maryland, College Park, and his postdoctoral research at Joslin Diabetes Center/Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. Dr. Brandauer’s research interests lie in investigating the effects of mitochondrial activity on human health, and developing and assessing strategies to support students from under-represented populations in STEM disciplines.

In addition to his teaching and research activities, Dr Brandauer is also the Director of the Gettysburg College’s Johnson Center for Creative Teaching and Learning. In this capacity, Dr. Brandauer supports his colleagues in creating evidence-based, inclusive, and effective learning environments.

After a post-doctoral fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine, Jane began her academic teaching career at Benedictine University in the graduate programs in exercise physiology. After that Jane taught in the Physician Assistant Programs at Rosalind Franklin University and the University of Kentucky. For the past 16 years Jane has taught Anatomy and Physiology at Heartland Community College in Normal, IL, where innovative, student-centered instruction is encouraged. For the last decade, Jane has employed Just-in-Time Teaching with Peer Instruction and concept questions assessed with a classroom response system. Recently, permanent, fixed teams have been used in her classes, along with team-based summative assessments, as well as in-class and post-class forced retrieval activities. Jane is currently a Professor of Biology and the Anatomy and Physiology course coordinator. Jane received her B.S. from Eastern Illinois University, her MS from Illinois State University, and her PhD from Marquette University.

Dr. Zhiyong Cheng is an Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences at the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences IFAS at the University of Florida. He received his PhD in Analytical Biochemistry from Peking University, and did his postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Cheng teaches human nutrition and metabolic physiology courses (graduate and undergraduate levels). In his teaching practice he has been developing and implementing pedagogical approaches to engage students in active, interactive, and experiential learning.

Ryan Downey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology at Georgetown University. As part of those duties, he is the Co-Director of the Graduate Physiology Program and a Team Leader for the Special Master's Program in Physiology. He teaches the cardiovascular and neurophysiology across the graduate physiology courses. He received his Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from UT Southwestern Medical Center. His research interests are in the sympathetic control of cardiovascular function during exercise and in improving science pedagogy.

Dr. Chaya Gopalan received her PhD in Physiology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Upon completing two years of postdoctoral training at Michigan State University, she began her teaching career at St. Louis Community College. After a short tenure at St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Dr. Gopalan joined the departments of Applied Health, Primary Care and Health Systems at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her teaching is in the areas of anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Gopalan has been practicing evidence-based teaching where she has tested team-based learning methodology, case-based learning methodology and most recently, the flipped classroom. She has received several grants in pursuing her research interests.

Patricia A. Halpin, PhD, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology at The University of New Hampshire at Manchester, is internationally known for her STEM education research, focusing on social media, student development of professional skills, and innovative teaching approaches. For almost two decades, she has successfully implemented K-12 physiology outreach, domestically and abroad. She has been recognized with the APS Dale J. Benos Professional Service Award, the APS Teaching Section New Investigator Award, and the New Hampshire Campus Compact Presidents’ Good Steward Award. Dr. Halpin is a member of the Advances in Physiology Education Editorial Board, serving as the Social Media Curator. She teaches animal physiology, cell biology, endocrinology, ethical issues in biology and global science explorations for undergraduates.

Yass Kobayashi is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS. He was a post-doctoral research associate for 6 years at two institutions before taking a faculty position at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS in 2006. He has been teaching a human/mammalian physiology, cellular biology, and two-semester anatomy and physiology sequences. He has been a member of the APS since 2013 and has been a member of the APS Career Opportunities in the Physiology committee since 2018. He also served as a mentor for two APS Integrated Organismal and Systems Physiology undergraduate research fellows and was a recipient of the PECOP fellowship for the 2018 ITL.

Andrew M. Petzold is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Rochester in the Center for Learning Innovation where he teaches Anatomy and Physiology and Immunology. His research focuses on improving the ways in which students can describe the complexity of human physiology using techniques from other disciplines including how students use creative writing to learn and retain physiology information and how students choose to communicate physiological concepts to public audiences.

Dee Silverthorn is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Physiology emeritus at the University of Texas-Austin. Dee has been using active learning and interactive classroom teaching for most of her career. She has taught human and comparative physiology, experimental design, and global health systems to a variety of students, from pre-health professions to nonmajors. Most recently she taught at the new Dell Medical School in a course that integrates anatomy and physiology using modified problem-based learning, interactive large group sessions in place of lectures, and weekly labs. She also mentors trainees and early-career faculty, and she taught a course for them on developing teaching skills.

Margaret Shain Stieben is the Senior Program Manager for Education Programs with the American Physiological Society. As Sr. Program Manager she works with the Careers and Educator Committees as staff support for all their programs including UG Summer Research Fellowships, Professional Skills Training Courses, and both of the committees’ EB events. Prior to joining APS, Stieben taught middle school science for 18 years. Recognized for creativity and excellence in teaching at the state, regional, and national levels she worked within several organizations to improve the quality of student-centered learning in middle and high school classrooms. For over 20 years the Frontiers in Physiology Professional Development Fellowships, supported by APS and NIH funding, has been the focus of her educational research in providing the best possible PD programming for middle and high school teachers. Stieben holds a BS in Education and MSEd from Indiana University.

Jennifer Ann Stokes is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Centenary College in Shreveport, LA. She earned her B.S. in Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, San Diego. Jennifer teaches Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II, Exercise Physiology, Nutritional Physiology, Medical Terminology, and Psychopharmacology. Her pedagogical research interests include integrative curriculum, active learning techniques, interactive technology, and collaborative testing (www.jenniferannstokes.com). Jennifer is also actively engaged with undergraduates in basic science research (www.stokeslab.com) and in her free time enjoys cycling, hiking, and yoga.

Chris is an Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware, teaching in the Department of Biological Sciences and in the Integrated Biology & Chemistry Program. He became interested in teaching during his graduate training at the University of Kentucky, where he earned a Doctorate in Physiology and received excellent mentoring in teaching as part of a departmental program. This lead Chris eventually to a position mentoring future science educators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as Director of Professional Development in Teaching for WISCIENCE. Over the years, Chris has taught a variety of undergraduate life science courses and graduate courses in science teaching and is very active in APS.

Alice Villalobos received her BSin biology from Loyola Marymount University and her PhD in comparative physiology from the University of Arizona-College of Medicine. For the past several years, she taught Anatomy & Physiology-II and Introduction to Human Nutrition in the Department of Biology at Blinn College guest lectured at Texas A&M University on the topics of brain barrier physiology and heavy metal toxicology. She recently relocated to Texas Tech University to join the Department of Kinesiology & Sport Management where she teaches physiological nutrition for physical activity and exercise physiology.