Sheryl Fuller-Espie, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
Studying cell-mediated innate immune responses in invertebrates is not something every student gets to experience, but biology students at Cabrini College will have that opportunity, thanks to Dr. Sheryl Fuller-Espie, who is conducting groundbreaking research in the subject.
Her research focuses on the leukocytes of earthworms, which possess natural killer-like activity and the ability to phagocytize pathogens. Her lab uses flow cytometric methods to investigate the effects of oxidative stress, environmental pollutants, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and heavy metals on these cellular responses. She is also interested in studying the cellular events associated with apoptosis in earthworms.
With Cabrini students as collaborators, the research in Dr. Fuller-Espie's lab has been published and presented at state, national, and international conferences, including the International Symposium on Earthworm Ecology, the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, the Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society, and the Undergraduate Arts, Research, and Scholarship Symposium at Cabrini College.
Dr. Fuller-Espie has received funding for her research through the National Science Foundation (NSF); the Department of Community and Economic Development of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; federal grants from the Department of Education; and faculty development summer grants from Cabrini College. Additionally, since 2006 she has served as a sponsor and supervisor for nine student grants from the Pennsylvania Academy of Science and three student grants from the Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society.
"I was interested in Cabrini because the campus culture fosters an environment where teaching is a primary focus," says Dr. Fuller-Espie, who joined Cabrini's faculty in 1998. "I also knew I would have the opportunity to get involved with the design and construction of a new science facility (the Antoinette Iadarola Center for Science, Education, and Technology - opened in 2005) that would promote undergraduate research in the sciences."
Dr. Fuller-Espie focuses her curriculum on experiential learning opportunities such as laboratory experiments and research projects. "I introduce my students to methodologies used in scientific research in both lecture and laboratory to help make conceptually challenging material applicable to interesting processes that are easy to understand," Dr. Fuller-Espie says. She designs courses that allow students to connect content learned in other courses to help them see the 'big picture' and bridge the gap between fields of study.
She earned bachelors' degrees in cell and molecular biology, and microbiology and immunology from the University of Washington, Seattle and an associate's degree in pre-med from North Dakota State College of Science. Postgraduate study at Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine at the University of London earned her a Ph.D. in biotechnology and a Diploma of Imperial College (DIC). She completed two post-doctoral fellowships at the Imperial College of Medicine, London (formerly the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital) and the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia.
She has presented at the British Society for Immunology, the 8th International Congress of Immunology, the European Federation of Immunological Societies, the 7th International Congress of Immunology, the University of Pennsylvania Graduate Group in Immunology, the Infection and Immunity Forum (sponsored by the Eastern Pennsylvania branch of the American Society for Microbiology), the International Symposium on Earthworm Ecology in Krakow, Poland, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Science. She will present at the International Symposium on Earthworm Ecology in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico in 2010.
She has published research papers in the Invertebrate Survival Journal, European Journal of Soil Biology, Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, International Immunology, Cellular Immunology, Journal of Immunology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and the Journal of Molecular and Applied Genetics. She has written chapters for Pathology and Immunology of Transplantation Rejection, Transplantation and Clinical Immunology XXIII, and Genetic Engineering, vol. 6. She is also a contributor to immunology and microbiology textbooks writing end-of-chapter questions and answers and testbanks for The Immune System (2nd and 3rd editions) and Microbiology: A Clinical Approach.
Dr. Fuller-Espie’s husband, David Espie, is a chemical engineer at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. in Allentown, Pa. They are active volunteers for the North Penn Marching Knights. They have two children, Daniel (Pennsylvania State University) and Stephanie (North Penn High School), and reside in Lansdale, Pa.
Contact Information:
Dr. Sheryl Fuller-Espie
Professor, Biology
Iadarola Center, Room 222
610-902-8369
sf723@cabrini.edu
Website: http://pages.cabrini.edu/sfuller-espie