“Prepping for Zombies, Ebola, and More” is the title of a Special Biology Seminar presented by Chris Woolverton, professor of “Zombiology” at Kent State University, 1 p.m. Friday, April 1, in Room 3022 of Ward Beecher Hall on the campus of Youngstown State University.
Woolverton is actually professor of Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, and Epidemiology in the College of Public Health at KSU. He received a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology from West Virginia University’s School of Medicine; postdoctoral training in immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and advanced training in Biological Safety, International Biosecurity, and Policy Analysis from George Mason University, MIT, and Emory University. He received training in pandemic planning from the University of Albany and BSL3 training from the Eagleson Institute.
He is the director of the KSU’s Center for Public Health Preparedness, where he oversees the National Institutes of Health Designated Training Facility of the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program, developing curriculum and training users of pathogen containment facilities.
Woolverton’s research is focused on the detection and control of infectious agents. He is the lead inventor of a liquid crystal biosensor for the real-time detection of bacteria and virus. In addition to the use of synthetic liquid crystals, Woolverton’ s lab has identified several microbial proteins that have liquid crystalline properties that direct their biological function. Additionally, he studies various methods of microbial eradication.
Woolverton is a co-author of the widely used undergraduate microbiology textbook,
Prescott’s Microbiology. He is the immediate past editor-in-chief of the
Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, the pedagogical journal of the American Society for Microbiology. In the practice of public health, Woolverton recently completed a 10-year term on the City of Kent Board of Health. He volunteers for the Portage County Medical Reserve Corp and served on the local incident response team during the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic.
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