Kwasi Connor
Assistant Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
School of Biological Sciences
School of Biological Sciences
Ph.D., University of Southern California, 2012, Biological Sciences
Email: kmconnor@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
5228 McGaugh Hall
Irvine, CA 92697
5228 McGaugh Hall
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Integrative Biology, Physiology, Marine Biology, Aging Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology
Websites
Appointments
USC Keck School of Medicine
UC-Irvine 2012-2015:
Ford Postdoctoral Fellowship; 2013
UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship; 2012 and 2014
UC-Irvine 2012-2015:
Ford Postdoctoral Fellowship; 2013
UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship; 2012 and 2014
Research Abstract
"Life in a Fluctuating Environment and the Fluctuations of Life"
From gene sequence to morphology, animals are well adapted to the environments in which they evolved. Non-model organisms that reside in extreme environments are particularly attractive study subjects for comparative physiologists, while model organisms allow for the monitoring of life's fluctuations. Understanding the mechanisms by which nature deals with chronic perturbations helps to understand constraints on biological processes, and how those limits are manifested in more broad characteristics such as growth, reproduction, survival and evolution. The marine environment possesses some of the most extreme and variable habitats in the world such as high temperatures of hydrothermal vents, severely cold Antarctic waters, high pressures of the deep sea and the fluctuating, unpredictable intertidal zone. Organisms residing in these environments have specialized cellular strategies that help them deal with these extremes, such as variation in protein structure, membrane function and gene expression. Whilst, understanding how organisms age in constant environments help us understand how life is orchestrated at the axis of time and the environment. My passion in research is to understand how physical and biological variables within extreme environment shape organismal molecular and biochemical systems over temporal scales. I am interested in understanding how physiological systems are perturbed by extreme events and what cellular activities are called upon to maintain organism homeostasis and enhance survival throughout the aging process.
From gene sequence to morphology, animals are well adapted to the environments in which they evolved. Non-model organisms that reside in extreme environments are particularly attractive study subjects for comparative physiologists, while model organisms allow for the monitoring of life's fluctuations. Understanding the mechanisms by which nature deals with chronic perturbations helps to understand constraints on biological processes, and how those limits are manifested in more broad characteristics such as growth, reproduction, survival and evolution. The marine environment possesses some of the most extreme and variable habitats in the world such as high temperatures of hydrothermal vents, severely cold Antarctic waters, high pressures of the deep sea and the fluctuating, unpredictable intertidal zone. Organisms residing in these environments have specialized cellular strategies that help them deal with these extremes, such as variation in protein structure, membrane function and gene expression. Whilst, understanding how organisms age in constant environments help us understand how life is orchestrated at the axis of time and the environment. My passion in research is to understand how physical and biological variables within extreme environment shape organismal molecular and biochemical systems over temporal scales. I am interested in understanding how physiological systems are perturbed by extreme events and what cellular activities are called upon to maintain organism homeostasis and enhance survival throughout the aging process.
Publications
1. Kwasi Connor, Hsu Y., Giridharan Ramsingh (2018). Understanding Metabolomic Changes in Aging Bone Marrow. Experimental Hematology & Oncology 7:13.
2. Stephen Capone A, K ConnorA, A. Columbo, Xin Li, T. J. Triche Jr, Giridharan Ramsingh (2018). Senescent Human Hematopoietic Progenitors Show Elevated Expression of Transposable Elements and Inflammatory Genes. Experimental Hematology 62: 33-38.
3. Kwasi Connor, A. Sung, N.S. Garcia, A.Y. Gracey, Donovan P. German (2016). Modulation of Digestive Physiology and Biochemistry in Mytilus californianus in Response to Feeding Level and Intertidal Microhabitat. Biology Open bio-019430.
4. Andy Y. Gracey and Kwasi Connor (2016). Transcriptional and Metabolomic Characterization of Spontaneous Metabolic Cycles in Mytilus californianus under subtidal conditions. Marine Genomics 30:35-41.
5. Brent Lockwood, K Connor and A.Y. Gracey (2015). The Environmentally Tuned Transcriptomes of Mytilus mussels. Journal of Experimental Biology 218:1822-33.
6. Kwasi Connor and Carlos D Robles (2015). Within-site Growth Rates and Terminal Sizes in Mytilus californianus over Wave Exposure and Tidal Gradients. The Biological Bulletin 228:39-51.
7. Kwasi Connor and Andrew Y. Gracey (2012). High Resolution Analysis of Metabolic Cycles in the Intertidal Mussel Mytilus californianus. American Journal of Physiology 302:R103-R111.
8. Kwasi Connor and Andrew Y. Gracey (2011). Circadian Cycles are the Dominant Transcriptional Rhythm in the Intertidal Mussel Mytilus californianus. PNAS 108:16110-16115.
9. Andrew Y. Gracey, ML Chaney, JP Boomhower, WR Tyburczy, K Connor and GN Somero (2008). Rhythms of Gene Expression in a Fluctuating Intertidal Environment. Current Biology-Cell press 18:1501-1507.
2. Stephen Capone A, K ConnorA, A. Columbo, Xin Li, T. J. Triche Jr, Giridharan Ramsingh (2018). Senescent Human Hematopoietic Progenitors Show Elevated Expression of Transposable Elements and Inflammatory Genes. Experimental Hematology 62: 33-38.
3. Kwasi Connor, A. Sung, N.S. Garcia, A.Y. Gracey, Donovan P. German (2016). Modulation of Digestive Physiology and Biochemistry in Mytilus californianus in Response to Feeding Level and Intertidal Microhabitat. Biology Open bio-019430.
4. Andy Y. Gracey and Kwasi Connor (2016). Transcriptional and Metabolomic Characterization of Spontaneous Metabolic Cycles in Mytilus californianus under subtidal conditions. Marine Genomics 30:35-41.
5. Brent Lockwood, K Connor and A.Y. Gracey (2015). The Environmentally Tuned Transcriptomes of Mytilus mussels. Journal of Experimental Biology 218:1822-33.
6. Kwasi Connor and Carlos D Robles (2015). Within-site Growth Rates and Terminal Sizes in Mytilus californianus over Wave Exposure and Tidal Gradients. The Biological Bulletin 228:39-51.
7. Kwasi Connor and Andrew Y. Gracey (2012). High Resolution Analysis of Metabolic Cycles in the Intertidal Mussel Mytilus californianus. American Journal of Physiology 302:R103-R111.
8. Kwasi Connor and Andrew Y. Gracey (2011). Circadian Cycles are the Dominant Transcriptional Rhythm in the Intertidal Mussel Mytilus californianus. PNAS 108:16110-16115.
9. Andrew Y. Gracey, ML Chaney, JP Boomhower, WR Tyburczy, K Connor and GN Somero (2008). Rhythms of Gene Expression in a Fluctuating Intertidal Environment. Current Biology-Cell press 18:1501-1507.
Graduate Programs
Comparative Physiology
Marine Environmental Biology
Research Centers
Center for Organismal Biology
Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=6584
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=6584
Last updated
07/14/2019
07/14/2019