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Sushma Naithani

Associate Professor (Sr Res)
she/her

sushma.naithani [at] oregonstate.edu

Office: 541-737-8022

Cordley Hall

Cordley Hall 4619

2701 SW Campus Way

2701 SW Campus Way
Corvallis, OR 97331

Naithani Lab

Area of Expertise: Systems biology, Genomics, Cell-cell signaling, Self-incompatibility, Mitochondria biogenesis, Photosynthesis, and Chloroplast biology, Plant pathway biocuration, and gene-gene network modeling

The current research focus of Naithani lab is on the development of the system-level models of crops and model plants of evolutionary importance by utilizing publicly available genomic data to understand how genetic diversity and a plant's immediate environment relate to yield, stress tolerance, and quality traits. We implement a variety of approaches rooted in biochemistry, genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics to dissect complex interactions between a plant’s genetic, metabolic, and signaling networks. The long-term goal is to develop models in a probabilistic framework that can assess the impacts of abiotic stresses on the yield and quality traits of crop plants.

  1. Species-specific Plant Metabolic Pathway databases
  2. Plant Reactome Knowledgebase
  3. Gramene

Lab website

http://naithanilab.cgrb.oregonstate.edu/

Lab Members

Research Associate, Software Developer

2023-present   Dr. Justin Elser

 
Undergraduate Honors Thesis students:

2021-2022  Sarah El-Husseini#, Biohealth Major

2019-2020  Daemon Dikeman*#, Biology Major

 

STEM Leaders Undergraduate Research Program Fellows (winter and spring term)

2023    Joie Beasley-Bennett#, Botany Major

 
Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, & the Arts (URSA) fellows (winter and spring terms)
  • 2024    Carolyn Crofford#, Bioresource and sustainability major
  • 2024    Isabella Ramirez#, Microbiology major
  • 2024    Siena Buchanan#, Biology major 
  • 2023    Riley Callahan#, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology major
  • 2023    Jenna Rosenau#, Biochemistry and Biophysics
  • 2023    Annette Tongsak#, Computer Science major
  • 2022    Elizabeth Hooks*#, Botany Major (e-campus) 

  • 2022    Kennedy A. Sparks#, Bioengineering major

  • 2021    Quentin Beers#, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major

  • 2021   Gwendolyn Michna#, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major

  • 2021   Olivia Worley#, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major

  • 2021   Madeline Goebel#, Biochemistry major

  • 2021   Sarah El-Husseini#, Biohealth Science major

  • 2021   Amitavo Ganguli#, Geography and Geospatial Science major

  • 2020   Callan Stowell#, Biology major

 

Experiential Learning Activity (one term)
  • 2023       Madeleine Zeller#, Botany Major (e-campus)
  • 2020       Shayla Rao#, Computer Science major
  • 2014.      Kelsey M. Nadeau, Biology major
  • 2013.      Kate Threlfall, Biology major
  • 2011      Ali Alnakhli, Pharmacy major
  • 2009     Jimmy Hoang (work-study), Biology major
  • 2009    Tracy Nguyen, (work-study), Biology major
 
Grant-funded Undergraduate Biocurators

2022-2023 Elizabeth Hooks*#, Botany Major (e-campus), Plant Reactome database

2018-19  Priya Garg*#, Plant Reactome database

2014-16: Christina M*#. Partipilo, FragariaCyc database

2013-14 Eli N. Waddell#*, VitisCyc database

 

Note:  *co-authors of one or more published papers. #co-authors of the conference presentations/abstracts.